Broken Heart, Healing Soul
by DarkArtificer
Summary: A man, Navarone, lost everything he held dear three years ago. He began traveling the world to try to regain a meaning for his life after a series of decisions. However, a call from a certain Professor changes his life in ways he never expected.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello guys, DarkArtificer here, with my very first Pokemon story, and my first story I'm putting effort into. Try to pay attention to the words, because I have a question to ask at the end.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, or form, own Pokemon. All rights reserved to the appropriate company.**

* * *

A lone man was walking down a road in Kanto. The man was tall, slightly over six feet. He was fit, not over muscled, but well defined. He had dark brown, almost black, hair. A pair of blue eyes peered intently at the world around him.

He was clad in a white shirt underneath a black jacket, as well as blue jeans. His shoes were black with white bottoms. He had a green pack of camping and traveling supplies upon his back. Two bottles could be seen in a side pocket.

He had been walking for several hours now, it was nearing noon, and the heat was bearing down on his shoulders. Small rainclouds could be seen in the distance, but only barely, and they were small anyway, so he was not concerned.

He stopped near a tree, sat down in the shade, and pulled out a bottle of water, and took a long drink from it. After that, he pulled a book out of his jacket pocket and began reading.

* * *

He read and rested for a nearly an hour in the shade, and then checked the sky. The sun was barely past midday, so he began to stand up. However, as he did, his phone began to ring. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket, and answered it.

"Hello?" He said.

"Hello, this is Professor Oak. Is this Navarone?" Came the reply.

"Yes, it is, and its good to hear from you again Professor. It's been a while." Said the man, who's name was revealed to be Navarone.

"Yes, far too long since we last spoke. Are you still traveling?" Professor Oak asked.

"Yes, I'm actually in Kanto right now. Why'd you ask?"

"I needed to speak to you." Oak said

"About what?" Navarone asked.

"How do you feel about people abusing their Pokemon?"

"It's a horrible thing when a trainer will abuse his Pokemon. Although, I feel as if there is more to this. After all, you wouldn't call me just to ask how I feel about that. What's going on?" Navarone asked, as he shifted his weight onto his right leg.

"A man, Apollo, was recently arrested for the intentional mistreatment of his Pokemon, of which there were three." Stated Professor Oak.

"It couldn't have been that bad. A few mean words maybe?"

"They were starved and beat to the point of being extremely weakened and injured. They-"

"What! What the hell would have caused him to do that? It's fucked up!" Navarone interrupted him, furiously. He began pacing around the tree in an attempt to calm himself.

"Please watch your language, Navarone. It's unbecoming of you. However, I do agree with your overall point, if not the specific words you used." Oak said in a flat tone of voice.

"So you want me to come to you in Pallet? What for?" Asked Navarone

"Actually no, before you interrupted me, I was going to say that they were taken to the Pokemon Center in Viridian City. I'm there as well."

"Alright, so you want me to meet your there?"

"Yes, I thought I made that clear. I'll explain everything once you get here, okay?"

"Alright, I'm coming. I should be there by tomorrow, around noon, barring anything unexpected." Said Navarone.

"Very well, do try to hurry though." Oak replied.

"I'm not going to sprint straight there. I'll be there when I'm there." Came the sarcastic reply.

"Oh, alright. I shouldn't have expected anything different. Also, I have a set of PokeTranslators here for you. I know you sold your old ones after Lilly and Gra-"

"Goodbye."

Navarone hung up, and replaced his phone back into his back pocket. He slipped his book into his jacket, and gathered his bearings by using the sun's position, and set off northward towards Viridian City.

* * *

Navarone knew it was time to set up camp once the sun neared the horizon. He dropped his pack on the ground, pulled out his collapsible tent, and quickly put it together near a lone tree, which had very few branches.

He took a step back and admired how well he did. _To think, just ten years ago, I had no idea how to set a tent up._ _If it weren't for Lilly I'd be- No I can't think about that._

Navarone began collecting sticks and a few branches from the forest a couple hundred feet away. He then arranged the sticks in a pyramid shape leaving one side open enough for him to place some tinder from his pack into the center.

He then surrounded the area with stones to prevent the fire from spreading through the grass on the ground.

He pulled out a box of matches from his jacket and lit the tinder with a match. He put the box up and started lightly blowing on the flames. As it started to burn, he placed a few bigger branches into the fire.

He watched the fire, only moving to place a few more branches in the fire every so often.

Once an even bed of coals was in the ring, he pulled a medium-sized pot out of his pack and filled it halfway with water from his bottle. He set it upon the fire and let it start boiling.

Once it did, he dropped a few strips of salted meat into the pot. He added a few more spices and a couple herbs that, when crushed, released a pleasant aroma.

As he waited for it took cook, he let his mind wander.

 _"Run! Get out of here, I'll distract them!" Shouted a young, female voice, barely heard over the sound of howling._

 _"No I'm not leaving you here, Lilly!" Said a voice, reminiscent of of Navarone's._

 _"You need to get Grace and yourself out of here." Lilly replied._

 _"What about you?"_

 _"I'll be fine."_

 _"Mommy, what's happening? I'm scared." Said a young, trembling voice._

 _"Don't worry, Grace, go back to sleep." Lilly said._

 _"Lilly, we're surrounded." Navarone said._

 _"Oh no, we're too late."_

Navarone ripped himself out of his memories, and slapped himself for letting his mind wander. He dried his tears on his jacket sleeve.

He pulled a rag and spoon out of his pack, and used the rag to pull the pot of the fire. Then, he began to eat. _For not having restocked on supplies in three weeks, this stew is surprising good._

After he finished, he grabbed a few pieces of jerky from his bag and began to chew one. He placed the leftover stew into a bowl, and covered the lid.

He picked up his pot, spoon, and his bottles and went in to the forest, to find a stream or river.

After nearly 10 minutes, he came upon a little stream flowing rather quickly. The water was flowing fast enough to not be contaminated, so along with cleaning his utensils, he filled his bottles up.

As he finished, he heard rustling in the bushes behind him. He reached inside his jacket and grabbed a six inch knife and slowly turned around. When he did, he saw a small Rattata walk cautiously out of the woods. He could see it sniffing the air.

He smiled and placed his last two strips of jerky on a stone near the stream, picked up his pot, spoon, and bottles, and left.

He returned to his camp and saw that the fire was nothing but coals now, and tossed a fair amount of dirt anyway. He then put away the pot, spoon, and water bottles into his pack, picked up the bowl, and went into his tent.

Inside his tent, he lied down on his sleeping bag after he set his pack near the flap. He quickly fell asleep and dreamed restlessly.

* * *

 _"Get out! Run! There!"_

 _Fire, everything was on fire. There were balls of darkness whizzing by at dizzying speeds. Throughout it all, the sound of a young child crying could be heard._

Navarone awoke the next moring, slowly, simply letting the sound of the drizzle outside calm him. _The nightmares weren't that bad this time. Maybe I'm finally healing._

He layed in bed for a while, simply listening to the sound of light rain outside the tent, letting the sound calm him.

 _Shit. I can't light a fire. I'm eating cold stew for breakfast, aren't I?_

With a sigh and a grunt, Navarone pulled himself out of bed and grabbed his jacket, put it on, flipped the hood up, and walked out into the rain.

Once he got out into the rain, he stopped. He stood still for a long while, before tightening the collar of his jacket, and turning his head upward, and feeling the rain on his face.

After nearly an hour of pondering on what the Professor said, and enjoying the rain, he heard a soft noise from the nearby. He turned, and looked, but only saw his tent, the tree, and the ring of stones. He grabbed his knife's handle, but didn't fully pull it out, and began to walk around the tent.

As he rounded his tent, he heard a small whimper, and saw a young-looking Vulpix, facing away from him, trying to take shelter from the rain under the tree. The Vulpix was soaking wet, and shivering constantly from the cold and water.

 _Poor fella. If he stays out in the rain much longer, he'll freeze to death. As a fire type, he even more susceptible to the cold and rain. I better bring him into my tent. Let's hope he isn't violent._ Navarone neared the Vulpix, and crouched down. When he did, the Vulpix noticed him, and wimpered again.

"Hey there, little guy, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to get you out of the rain." Navarone said, it a soothing voice, and motioned for the Vulpix to cone closer.

The Vulpix didn't move, but rather watched him, and Navarone stayed crouched down. They both remained in this position until a gust of wind blew over the tree, knocking hundreds of water droplets off and down upon the two beings.

The Vulpix shivered harder than before, and wimpered once more. Navarone flipped his hood up again, grateful he had the option. This, however, only made him want to help the Vulpix more.

"Come on, I'm not going to hurt you. If you stay out here any longer, you'll die from the cold." Navarone said.

That seemed to do it, for the Vulpix slowly walked over to Navarone, and stood underneath him. From close up, he could see that the Vulpix was male, due to the body structure.

"There we go. See? I'm not a bad guy. Let's get into my tent and out of the rain."

Navarone slowly picked the Vulpix off the ground, and was surprised at how cold he was, as well as how little he resisted.

 _It must've been raining longer than I thought it was. Poor guy._

Navarone brought the Vulpix into his tent, and set him on the bedroll. He then grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around the canine.

Slowly, the Vulpix stopped shivering, and then rubbed his head against Navarone's leg, once, as if to say 'thank you.'

Navarone reached over and grabbed the leftover stew, and removed the lid. He then grabbed another bowl from his pack, and placed a portion of the food into the bowl, and set it in front of the Pokemon.

"I know it's cold, but I'm afraid its the best I could do right now due to the rain." Navarone said, apologetically.

The Vulpix looked up at Navarone, and smiled, before beginning to eat. This surprised Navarone, but he quickly got calmed down as he remembered a fact.

 _Right, I forgot they can understand us without a translator, but we need one to understand them._ _Rather strange how that works, isn't it? We need translators, but the inverse is true for them. Maybe someday I'll actually figure out why that is._

Once he finished his thoughts, Navarone began to eat as well. Even cold, the stew was still good. Far better than stale bread, cheese, and any berries he could find, at least. Once they finished eating, Navarone grabbed the bowl, pot, and spoon, and stood up. "I'm going to clean these, you shiuld wait here because its still raining, alright?" Navarone

The Vulpix nodded once, before pacing in a circle on the bedroll, before laying and going to sleep.

 _Hehe, cute._

Navarone put his hood up, grabbed a rag from his pack, and walked into the rain. He set the bowl and pot on the stones by the fire pit, and put the spoon in the bowl, and let them fill up with rain water.

Once they were nearly full, he reached and began washing the bowl, only to yank his hands out with a hiss.

 _Damn, that's cold. And that Vulpix was in this for at least an hour. Surprised he didn't freeze to death._ He began to wash the bowl again, doing his best to ignore the cold. As he preformed the age-old task of washing dishes, he started thinking.

 _What do I do with the Vulpix? I can't just let him go into the wild. He obviously has no idea how to survive. If he did, why didn't he take cover from the rain in the forest, instead if a lone tree, one with few branches_?

 _At the same time, its not my choice whether or not he comes with me, it's his and his alone. What do I do then?_

Navarone thought for a moment, only pausing to begin washing the pot. Then, he decided his course. _I'll ask him to travel with me. If he says yes, I have a few Luxury Balls in my pack. If not, I'll give him my last few pieces of jerky and hope he learns quickly._ _I really hope he agrees, it has been a long time since I've had a companion, and it doesn't sit well with me to leave a young Pokemon like him alone in the wild._

Navarone finished washing the pot, and grabbed it along with the bowl and spoon, and headed into the tent. He set all three things near the flap, to let them dry. He looked over at the Vulpix to see it awake and starring at him.

"Hey there. You're awake already? You didn't sleep that long." Navarone asked. He moved and sat down on the bedroll, next to the Vulpix, who nuzzled his hand, before quickly pulling away.

Navarone sat quietly for a while, thinking, before he sighed and turned towards the canine, catching his attention.

"I need to ask you something. How would you feel about coming with me? I'm not going to force you to do so. If you don't want to, I certainly won't make you." Navarone spoke.

The Vulpix looked at him quickly, and then looked down, as if to think.

"I just don't think you fit in with the wild, you seem far to calm. You weren't born wild, were you?" He asked.

The Vulpix shook his head **.** "Either way, I don't think you'll last much longer out here, but its your choice, and who knows? You could prove me wrong. What do you say? Come with me, or no?"

The Vulpix thought for a moment, before looking at the man, the strange human who shared his food, his bed, and his home with a random Vulpix, and nodded, once.

Navarone smiled, before reaching into his pack, and pulled out a black ball.

In the middle was an orange button, surround by a white circle, inside an orange circle, which was again surrounded by a white circle. From the final orange circle, wrapping around the ball, came an orange stripe, with a white stripe on both sides. The same was repeated near the top, but with red and yellow, instead of orange and white.

"This is a Luxury Pokeball. It is very comfortable for Pokemon, or so I heard. Onc of the best features, it has a release function inside, so that the Pokemon inside can get out themselves."

Navarone then set the ball on the ground, in front of the Vulpix, and continued talking.

"The ball is just to prevent another trainer from capturing you. You don't have to stay in it if you don't want to. Far be it for me to force you. Simply press the button in the middle, and let it catch you. The release should be easy to figure out, since it was designed to be that way."

The Vulpix nodded, before walking to the Pokeball, and pressing the button in the middle. It caught the Pokemon with a bright light, and shook once, before beeping.

The ball then opened, and releasde the canine, who looked up and smiled, seeing that the man hadn't lied to him.

Navarone smiled back, then said, "If your are going to come with me, you need a name. I can't just call you Vulpix."

The canine made a noise, which reminded Navarone of laughter, before nodding.

"How do you feel about 'Verrin?'" HeHe asked.

The Vulpix thought for a second, before nodding his head firmly, and smiling at Navarone.

"Then welcome to the team, Verrin."

* * *

 **So! How did you like my first chapter of my first Pokemon story? Horrible, Bad, Meh, Good, or Great? Don't hesitate to review. All constructive critism is appreciated, however flames will be deleted.** **As for that question I told you about. Could you tell that I have never played a Pokemon game, or watched the show? I did my research before hand, plus I have a good friend name Greg who helped me big time. If it weren't for him, this would have been several days later. I will try to update on Thursdays, but no promises, most of you understand how life is. ****One final thing; 3,000 words. Too long, or just right? Maybe even not long enough? I don't want each chapter to roll on endlessly, or to be over in a flash.**


	2. Chapter 2

**We're here on Chapter 2 of _Broken Heart, Healing Soul._ I'm actually having a _lot_ of fun making this story. I like to thank** **the user Storm Dragon Wolf Princess for their comment.** **Your offer was very kind. Also, can anyone tell me a different word to call a Pokemon trainer other than 'trainer.'**

 **Next, I decided to keep a staggered update schedule. I'll update on either a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.**

 **Finally, if anyone sees an error, please tell me. I'm doing this on my phone. Now, without further ado:**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any official Pokemon characters. I do, however, own my OC's.**

* * *

Navarone then put Verrin's Luxury Ball inside his pack, right next to the other, empty ones.

He looked up and saw Verrin looking at him, his head tilted.

"Vul Vulpix." Verrin said.

"Sorry Verrin, I won't be able to understand exactly what you are saying until I get some PokeTranslators. Are you asking what's in my pack?" Navarone asked.

Verrin nodded and shook his head.

"So yes and no... Is it about the other Luxury Balls?"

Verrin nodded his head in response to Navarone's question.

"Ah, okay. They are all empty. I have them just in case I come across a Pokemon who wants to travel with me." Navarone replied.

"Vul Pix?" Verrin spoke in a questioning tone.

"Why would I use a Pokeball on a Pokemon who _wants_ to travel with me?"

Verrin nodded his head again.

"It's because there are people out there who think Pokemon are just animals, and they will capture a Pokemon against their will. I use the Pokeballs so if a Pokemon travels with me into a city, they won't get captured by a random person." Navarone paused for a moment.

"It's also why I have only Luxury Balls. They are more expensive than regular ones, but it is impossible to force a Pokemon into one. They can just activate the release if someone tries. Besides, if a Pokemon stops traveling with me, I can either give them their Ball, so they can't be captured, or I can get it reset."

Verrin nodded, and then lied down. They both were silent for a long while, simply listening to the rain outside. Navarone gathered his thoughts, and spoke.

"Once this rain stops, we'll head northward to Viridian city. Okay?

Verrin looked at Navarone and tilted his head.

"An old friend of mine, Professor Oak, called me. Another 'trainer,'" This, he said in a annoyed tone, "had mistreated his Pokemon, and was arrested. He wants me to meet him there, although he never said why and I forgot to ask. I also need to restock on supplies. Salted meats, jerky, fresh fruits and vegetables, spices, and herbs." Navarone said, in response to Verrin's unspoken question.

"Vul?"

"Are you asking how I know him?"

Verrin shook his head.

"Why I said 'trainer' like that?

He nodded.

"The same people who believe Pokemon are just animals also believe that Pokemon need to be 'trained.' They force their Pokemon to fight others for sport."

Verrin sat up and made an alarmed sound.

"Relax, Verrin. I'm not going to do that. I don't make Pokemon fight. However, if you want to challenge another Pokemon to a friendly duel, then you can, but I'm not going to force you to fight." Navarone said reassuringly.

The young Vulpix calmed down and looked at Navarone thankfully, before laying down again.

"Anyway, even though some people treat Pokemon as animals, more and more are seeing them as friends and companions due to the invention of several devices, such as the PokeTranslators, that allow us to understand Pokemon." Navarone paused to think about what he was going to say.

"Even though few people _force_ their Pokemon to fight, a lot of people and Pokemon enjoy challenging other Pokemon to a friendly duel. No one gets really hurt, and pretty much everyone traveling with a Pokemon has medicine."

Navarone saw that Verrin was giving him a questioning look.

"People will challenge us. Maybe not often, but it will happen. If that happens, are you willing to duel, or do you want me to decline. Nod to fight, shake your head to decline." Navarone said.

The canine both shook and nodded his head.

"You want to decide if you fight them?"

Verrin nodded.

"Alright. If someone challenges us, tap me once to fight, twice if you want me to decline. Okay?"

Verrin smiled and nodded, and rubbed his head on Navarone's leg.

"Alright, these duels work a lot different from fights in the wild. For one, serious injuries aren't allowed. You can knock your opponent out, or hurt then enough that they can't fight anymore, but serious injuries like broken bones, severe wounds, and permanent injuries aren't allowed and can get the person arrested." Navarone explained.

"Also, as your 'trainer,' I have to call out how you attack, and when. It's what makes duels rather hard. Both sides need to trust the other. The Pokemon needs strength and reflexes to fight and react, and the 'trainer' needs to be able to think and plan, to make sure they win and that their Pokemon doesn't get hurt." Navarone said.

"You will have to show me what you can do so I can know what to call out, but we'll do that later, before we enter the city, okay?" Navarone asked.

"Vul."

Navarone sighed, then said, "I can't wait to get another set of those translators, so I can finally understand you."

Verrin looked up and smiled, before yawning and laying his head on Navarone's leg.

"Tired? I suppose I did talk for a while. We'll take a short nap, and hopefully it will have stopped raining by the time we wake up." Navarone said.

Navarone then leaned against the wall of the tent, hoping it could support his weight. Once he realized it would, he flipped his hood over his face, and lied there.

As he fell asleep, he let his mind wander to the past, present, and the future.

The last thing he remembered was Verrin lightly snoring in his sleep, and thinking that the noise was rather adorable.

* * *

 _A boy_ _could be seen walking through a forest. The child had almost black hair and piercing blue eyes. He was young, looking around 11._ _Sniffling could be heard coming from the child, and tears were running from his eyes._ _"Where am I? Where's my mom?" The boy said aloud to himself._

 _The boy continued to walk through the woods, very obviously lost._ _After nearly an hour of wandering, a loud boom of thunder sounded._ _It started to rain, **hard**. The rain was very cold, and soaked the boy to the bone instantly._ _The child started to violently shiver, and looked around, hoping against hope he would find shelter from the severe thunderstorm. He saw nothing._ _The boy then stared running, desiring, begging, for shelter to make itself known. He ran for hours, and it was starting to get dark._ _Eventually, it was too dark for him to see, and he began to give up. He stopped and sat down, and began crying harder. His tears mixed with the rain running down his face in sheets._ _A bolt of lightning split the night sky, startling him. He looked up and thought he saw something in the distance. Another bolt flashed, and he saw that it was a cave_.

 _The child thanked Arceus for the cave, and ran towards it. Once he got to it, he ran inside without a second thought, and saw that there was wood piled against the back wall._ _He walked over to the wood, and saw that it was dried. He thought about making a fire, but realized he didn't have a way to light it, and he had no idea how to make or use a bow drill._

 _He sat down next to the wood pile, and took his soaked shirt off, setting it on the floor._ _The cave was cold, but it was dry, and warmer that the rain outside_ , _and his shivering was starting to slow._ _As he sat there, he heard movement coming from a darker portion of the cave. He began to get scared, thinking it was a wild Pokemon that would eat him._

 _He was partially right. A Pokemon came out of the shadows, but it was a Pokemon that he had never seen before. It was short, a little shorter than him. It's skin was pale white, and seemed to be wearing a dress of the same color. It had blue hair, and an orange gem coming out of both sides of it's head, at an angle._

 _The Pokemon stopped and stared at the boy, before looking out at the heavy rain pouring from the sky._ _"P..please don't h..hurt me." The boy pleaded, the cold and fear making him stutter._

 _The being looked over at the boy and seemed to notice, for the first time, that he was shivering and wet._

 ** _It's alright, I won't hurt you._**

 _The boy heard a melodious voice, obviously feminine, say in his head._

 _"Di..did you say that?" he asked._

 _ **Yes, I did. As a Psychic Type, I can communicate with Telepathy.** He heard._

 _"What are you?"_

 _ **A Ralts. Now, why are you in here? Are you here to capture me?** A defiant tone crept into her voice at that_ _._

 _"N..no. I was c..cold, and its r...rai..raining. I n..needed get out of the r..rain." The boy stuttered, her tone reigniting his fear._

 _The Ralts stared for a moment, before her hands lit up with a blue glow, and the wood next to the boy was pulled into the center of the cave, and lit it on fire._

 _"T..thank you."_

 _ **You're welcome. It would be cruel for me to let you freeze. You really didn't come here to catch me, did you?** She asked._

 _"I didn't even know what you are or that you were me here until you showed yourself." He said._

 _ **I believe you.**_

 _The two sat in silence for a while, listening to the sounds of rain and fire._

 _ **What's your name?** The Ralts asked._

 _"N..Navarone. Yours?" He asked_ _._

 ** _Lilly._**

 _"It's nice to meet you Lilly." Navarone said._

 _ **Li**_ _ **kewise.**_

* * *

Navarone slowly opened his eyes as he slowly became aware of the world around him. The first thing he noticed was that it had stopped raining. The second was that there was a weight on his left leg.

He looked down and saw Verrin sleeping on his leg. Navarone smiled and decided to let the fire Fox sleep a little longer.

Navarone thought about his dream as waited. _Not often that I dream about our meeting. It's usually nightmares about **that** day. Can't say I didn't enjoy the memory though._ As Navarone reflected in his dream, Verrin started to stir. Navarone felt the movement and realized Verrin was waking up.

Verrin let out a large yawn, showing his sharp teeth for a moment, before opening his eyes, and saw Navarone looking at him.

"Good afternoon, Verrin. Did you sleep well?" Navarone asked.

Verrin yipped, nodded, and rubbed the side of his muzzle into Navarone's leg.

"I take that as a yes. Anyway, it stopped raining, so I'm going to pack the tent and we'll set out for Viridian City, okay?" Navarone asked.

Verrin nodded and got up. Navarone then got up and began to roll up the bedroll. He attached it to the top of his pack, and picked it up. He then brought the pack outside and set it on the ground, beside the tree.

He then began to take the tent apart. He collapsed the poles, then rolled the fabric up and placed them in the pack.

After packing up the tent, he slung the pack over his shoulder and looked down at Verrin.

"Are you ready to go?" Navarone asked.

"Vul Vulpix!" Verrin said, excitedly.

"Then let's go!" Navarone said, eager to leave after being stuck there for nearly a day.

* * *

Navarone and Verrin followed the road north towards Viridian City for several hours. As the day wore on, Navarone finally spotted the city in the distance.

Navarone turned to the fire canine and spoke, "In the city, we might get challenged. If we do, and you choose to fight, I need to know what you can do. Will you show me?"

"Vulpix!"

Verrin then used a variety of fire-based attacks, as well as a few others Navarone didn't expect him to know.

"Safeguard, Inferno, Quick Attack, Feint Attack, Flame Burst, Flamethrower, Roar, Confuse Ray, and Payback." Navarone said.

"You know quite a few attacks, a few of which I didn't think you could do. Those will be very useful if we get challenged. Good job."

Verrin barked excitedly and released a little line of flame from his mouth.

After establishing what attacks and defensive measures Verrin knew, Navarone and his fire fox companion continued toward Viridian City.

When they were only a few hundred meters from the city, Navarone looked at Verrin and said.

"It's getting rather late. We should find a good hotel with room service and stay the night, okay?"

Verrin looked up and nodded his head, signalling his consent.

It took half an hour of asking around, but Navarone learned of a hotel that had room service and allowed Pokemon to stay in the rooms.

The hotel was at least 10 stories tall, and, from the windows, Navarone could see that there were at least 30 rooms on each floor. The name, however, was rather uncreative. It was 'The PokeInn.'

After renting a room for two nights, Navarone was given the keys to Room 173.

"The room service phone is on the desk. Just pick it up and dial 1. Call whenever your hungry." The desk clerk, a cheery woman in her late fourties, said.

"Thank you very much, Mrs?

"April, dear. You and your Pokemon have a nice night."

"And you as well." Navarone said as he and Verrin ascended the stairs. After ascending to the 6th floor, they quickly found their room and entered.

The room was spacious. It had a entrance room with a couple couches and a chair, a doorway leading to the bedroom, and another doorway to the bathroom. All in all, It was very spacious and well designed.

Navarone walked over to the phone and called room service, instructing them to leave it in the entrance.

Navarone set his pack down by the doorway and said to Verrin, "We've been traveling all day. I'm sure you've gotten a bit dirty. Do you want me to bathe you?"

Verrin let out an excited yip and ran into the bathroom.

"I'll take that as a yes." Navarone said, with a chuckle. He followed Verrin into the bathroom and saw him standing in the tub, trying, but failing, to turn the knobs that control the water.

The fact that Verrin knew what a bathtub was and how it worked reinforced his belief that Verrin was not born wild.

 _He must've had a trainer, but was released for some reason or another. Whoever did it would have made a better choice giving him to another trainer instead._ Navarone thought to himself.

"Be patient Verrin, and stop biting the knobs. You'll scratch them."

Verrin stopped trying to turn the knobs himself, and sat down, patiently waiting.

Navarone looked around the bathroom and saw towels and washrags in the cabinet. There was a variety of shampoos, soaps, and conditions for the use of both humans and Pokemon with skin or fur.

"I think I know the answer, but do you want hot water?"

Verrin barked and nodded his head.

Navarone reached over and turned on the water. He adjusted the temperature until it was hot, but not boiling.

He grabbed the shampoo and poured some into his hand. He then rubbed his hands together until it formed a nice lather, and washed Verrin's coat of fur. Afterwards, he repeated the process with conditioner. All the while, Verrin had his eyes closed, enjoying the water and the attention.

Once Navarone was done, he dried Verrin and his hands off with one of the towels, before putting it in a basket meant to store dirty clothes.

Navarone opened the door and smiled as Verrin ran out and jumped onto the bed, quickly falling asleep. Navarone then walked over to his pack and grabbed a set of spare clothes, before going to take his shower.

After finishing, he woke Verrin up and they ate a dinner of steak with a salad on the side, although Verrin didn't eat the salad.

After room service came and took the plates, they quickly fell asleep on the bed.

* * *

Navarone woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. He groaned and got out of bed. He grabbed his phone and checked the time, surprised to see it was ten in morning.

 _Must've been because I was sleeping in a real bed again._ Navarone thought as he walked to the front room and answered the phone.

"Navarone, I thought you said you'd be here yesterday!" Navarone heard a familiar voice 'greet.'

"Actually Professor Oak, I said I'll be here when I'm here, barring anything unexpected. As it so happens, Verrin and I got stuck in a rain storm, and only arrived as it was turning night." Navarone said, in an amused tone of voice.

"Verrin?" Oak inquired.

"A young Vulpix I found trying to take shelter under a tree. After saving him from the rain, he agreed to travel with me." Navarone answered.

"Be that as it may, why aren't you at the Pokemon Center _now?_ " The Professor questioned.

"That _is_ my fault, two months of sleeping on the ground, I overslept once I had an actual bed." Navarone replied

"Understandable, I suppose. Although, now that you are awake, will you come here?"

"Yeah, let me wake Verrin up and we'll head over."

"Good, I'll see you in a little while."

"Wait, Professor Oak, _why_ did you want me to come? I forgot to ask last time." Navarone asked.

"I'll explain everything once you get here, okay?" Oak said.

"Alright, fine. Now you have me interested. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Professor Oak said, right before he hung up.

Navarone signed and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He turned to go wake Verrin, only to see he was already awake and looking at Navarone.

"Did I wake you up?" Navarone asked.

Verrin shook his head.

"Well, that's good at least. Are you ready to go?"

Verrin nodded.

Navarone and Verrin walked out the door and down the stairs before going out the front door.

They arrived at the Pokemon Center of Viridian City fifteen minutes later. They entered and saw a woman with long pink hair wearing a simple pink and white dress. Next to her was a man with white hair wearing khaki pants, a blue shirt, and a lab coat.

"Nurse Joy, Professor Oak." Navarone greeted.

"Ah, Navarone, right on time, as you said. At least the second time." Professor Oak said.

"And you must be Verrin." Said Nurse Joy as she bent over to scratch behind the fire fox's ears, much to his evident delight.

"Nurse Joy, can you take Verrin and make sure he is healthy?" Navarone asked.

"Of course dear. Come along Verrin." Nurse Joy replied.

Verrin looked at Navarone, who smiled and nodded, before following Joy.

"Alright, Professor, why did you call me here?" Navarone asked.

"First of all, here are a set of translators. You might find them useful." Professor Oak handed Navarone a pair of clip-on earrings, shaped like Pokeballs.

"Thank you, now, what happened?" Navarone asked impatiently.

"Three weeks ago, Officer Jenny received an anonymous tip about a abusive trainer. She followed the lead and, a week ago, found and arrested a man named Apollo for intention mistreatment of his Pokemon, of which there were three." Oak paused to take a breath.

"Their names are Liz, a Shiny Gardevoir, Melody, a Buneary, and Harmony, a Riolu. The Gardevoir is around 24, whereas Melody and Harmony are young, around 10 and 12, respectively."

"What are their conditions?" Navarone asked, trying to stay calm.

"Harmony and Melody are relatively okay, other than being malnourished. It seemed that Apollo didn't care to much to feed his Pokemon."

"And Liz?" Navarone questioned.

"A fair bit worse. It seems that every time one made a mistake, Apollo would beat them. However, whenever he was mad at the two children, Liz would distract him and take the beating."

"It seems that the only reason Melody and Harmony are alive is because Liz would take the beating and find food for them, even if it meant going hungry herself."

" _She's just like Lilly._ " Navarone whispered to himself.

"As much as it pisses me off, Apollo was arrested. What do you need me for?" Navarone asked, louder.

"Due to the rising number of territorial dark types in Kanto, it's not safe to release them into the wild. They need a trainer, and I trust you to take care of them more than anyone else." Professor Oak said.

"Are you sure that'll work? I'm pretty sure they'll hate most humans after that." Navarone said.

"That's why I had Verrin brought to them, and asked Nurse Joy to ask him to explain how you are, and why I spoke to them mself about you. They might not trust you, but they trust me, and I trust you." Professor Oak said, triumphantly.

"You little sneak, you planned this." Navarone feigned annoyance, but couldn't keep his smile off his face.

"So? Will you do it?" Professor Oak asked nervously.

"Yes. Yes, I will. _If_ you can get them to come with me." Navarone said.

"You got a deal."

* * *

Verrin walked into the hospital part of the Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy just finished explaining to him the situation, and asked him to tell the three Pokemon about Navarone, to which he agreed.

He rounded a corner and saw them. A Buneary, a Riolu, and a Gardevoir. The Buneary and Riolu, Melody and Harmony, were young, and were obviously starved recently. Their ribs were showing, but only barely, and they seemed to be improving quickly, shown by their bright eyes, smiles, and quick movements.

The Gardevoir however, was in much worse condition. She very obviously starved more than the other two, and nearly every part of her was covered in bandages, several of which had red spots.

As Verrin walked close, the Gardevoir said, "Melody, Harmony, go play with Nurse Joy. I have to talk with the Vulpix."

"But Liz!" Melody started.

"No 'but's. Go. You can come back later." Liz said, firmly.

"Fine, we'll go find Nurse Joy." Harmony said, obviously unhappy with it.

"Thank you." Liz said.

Melody and Harmony ran out of the room, and Verrin watched, surprised that they aren't depressed or traumatized.

Verrin looked back at Liz and said, "You took very good care of them. They seem like nothing happened. The only evidence is quickly being removed."

"They are only children. I couldn't let them be beat. I tried my best to make sure they were well fed, as well. Even if it wasn't perfect. Now, why are you here?" Liz asked.

"My trainer, Navarone, is the one that's going to take care of you now-if he agrees at least. Nurse Joy and Professor Oak wanted me to answer any questions you had about him."

"Why can't we just be let go?" Liz asked.

"Too many violent dark types around here now. I almost died from one a few weeks ago. A Houndoom." Verrin replied.

Liz sat silently for a spell, then asked, "How does he treat you? Be honest, please."

Verrin didn't hesitate to reply, "He is very nice. He found me during a rainstorm, and I would have died if he hadn't saved me. He took me into his tent, fed me, and make sure I was okay. He doesn't make me do anything I don't want to."

"My Pokeball had a release, so I can go in and out as I please. He told me if we get challenged, it is my choice if I fight. He treats me like an equal, not a pet, unlike some others."

Liz looked at Verrin for a moment, then spoke, "He really is nice then? Nothing like Apollo."

"Nothing."

"Why is he so nice?" Liz asked.

"I'm not sure. He talks in his sleep, so I know he knew a Ralts named Lilly, and someone named Grace, but I don't know who they were to him. Maybe they had something to do with it." Verrin paused for a moment.

"Will you come with us, Liz?" Verrin asked.

Liz looked out the window for a long moment, then answered.

"We will, but if he tries to hurt us, I won't hesitate to defend myself." She said, with an edge in her voice.

"I understand, and I promise he won't hurt you." Verrin said, firmly.

* * *

 **And Chapter 2 is done. First of all, 4,000 words. Second, I know Dark Types aren't in Kanto in the games, but this is a bit more realistic. All types are able to travel to other regions on their own.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Back again with _Broken Heart, Healing Soul_. I know I said I'd update on a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday but I'm impatient. I'll update whenever I finish a chapter, but the wait shouldn't ever be more than a week unless I'm distracted.** **For anyone who hasn't yet realized, this is a more realistic spin on Pokemon. A lot of things won't work the way they do in games.** **On a side note, I think I'm addicted to writing. I started this story to see if I could write one, but now I'm desiring to work on it all the time. Now, on with chapter three.** **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, and personally, I'm glad. My story is enough for me.**

* * *

Do you really think you can convince them to come with me?" Navarone asked Professor Oak.

"I think so. Liz will be the one I need to convince. If she goes, the other two will follow. They look up to her." Oak paused.

"As it is, she will be rather hard to convince. She trusts me and Nurse Joy because we helped her, Harmony, and Melody."

"That's understandable. You basically saved them from hell. However, how will you actually do it?" Navarone questioned.

"I'm not sure yet. I'll find a way through tough thorough thought, though." Profssor Oak said, without pausing.

Navarone snickered, "You we're waiting for a chance to say that, weren't you?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Oak asked, feigning ignorance.

Navarone let it slide, and the two stood in silence for a while, before the Professor spoke up.

"It won't be easy. I'll have to explain to her that I trust you, and that you are very kind. Best case scenario? She gives you a chance and travels with you."

" _Very kind_? Where did you get that from?" Navarone asked, amused.

"I'll admit you are _very_ sarcastic, and won't hesitate to tease someone for your amusement, but you are far from cruel. You care for Pokemon greatly. Always a desire to make sure they are healthy and comfortable." He paused for a moment.

"Your past proves that."

"Professor." Navarone said warningly.

"I know! But you have to admit, I have a point. You treat Pokemon better than some people treat their family!"

Here Professor Oak lowered his voice nearly to a whisper, "You nearly died for them, Navarone. No one else would have done that. With your permission, I want to tell them. They'll trust you far more if they know that yo-"

" _Enough_!" Navarone interrupted, his voice strained, then continued.

"Tell them if you will. Basics only. Not their names and certainly not the full truth, _got it_?"

It was not a question.

Professor Oak appeared flustered, then composed himself.

He spoke very quietly when he said, "I get it. I promise I won't reveal much. And I went too far. I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"See to it that you don't." Navarone said, then changed the subject.

"In the unlikely event that they _do_ agree to travel with me, how are we going to get them back to my home?" Navarone asked.

"You aren't going to keep traveling?" Oak asked.

"With a starved and injured Gardevoir and two starved children? Smart. Verrin is the only one in fighting condition, and the road is swarming with Dark types due to Team Rocket."

"How did you get here then?" Oak asked, unspokenly agreeing that traveling with the three that were formerly Apollo's was a bad idea.

"I had no Pokemon, so they weren't interested. One did get a bit curious, but a tap to the muzzle made him decide otherwise."

"He didn't attack?" The Professor asked.

"Not once he saw my knife, but if I have a few weakened Pokemon traveling with me, a knife isn't going to stop a wild Pokemon from an easy meal." Navarone paused for a moment.

"I'll probably have to buy a car. Drive it to my house. It'll take a few hours." Navarone mused to himself.

"Your _house_?" Oak asked, incredulously, "It's a town!"

"An _estate_ , actually." Navarone corrected, "Besides the main house isn't too big and all the other houses are for the workers and their families."

"The house isn't too big? Maybe not for an extended family! But you live in it all alone! It's four stories!" Oak exclaimed.

"First of all, I used to not live alone. Second it's three. An attic hardly counts as a story. Third, I never bought it, I inherited it. Fourth, the size will help now, won't it?" Navarone corrected, amused.

Professor Oak conceded his point, then asked, "I wonder what is taking Nurse Joy and Verrin so long?"

"No clue, but it gave us time to talk." Navarone replied, unconcerned.

They waited in silence a few more minutes, before the door to the side of the front desk opened and Nurse Joy walked out with Verrin in tow.

"Finally! What took you so long? Nurse, did Verrin tell them about Navarone?" Oak asked the questions in a rapid-fire manner.

"He talked to Liz, but I don't know what he said, or what she replied." Nurse Joy answered.

"She agreed to join us, as long as Navarone doesn't hurt her." Verrin replied, not expecting anyone to understand him.

"You did? Good job, Verrin! That makes things a lot easier." Navarone replied with a smile, knowing Verrin would be shocked.

He was right, Verrin looked at Navarone, completely shocked he was understood.

Oak and Joy looked at Navsrone questioningly. Neither of them had translators on.

Navarone smiled again, then said, "Professor Oak, he said he convinced Liz to come with us, provided I don't attempt to harm them. Verrin, I have a set of translators on right now, so I can understand what you say."

Oak spoke first, saying, "He did? Wonderful! I don't have to worry about trying convincing Liz. I will, however, go tell her that you are a good person, if a bit rude at times." Oak said, before walking towards the door.

"I'll join you. I need to check her bandages and see how their recovery is going." Nurse Joy said, before departing with Oak. This left Verrin and Navarone alone in the room.

Verrin looked up at Navarone, and asked, "So you really can understand me now?"

Navarone smiled, then replied, "Yeah, I can. It's the PokeTranslators. An ingenious piece of technology. I get 35% of all profits as well."

"Why do you make money from their invention. And who are 'they'?" Verrin asked, curious.

Navarone chuckled and said, "'They" are PokeTech Industries. A technology research company focused on developing new tech allowing better understanding of Pokemon." Navarone paused to catch his breath.

"As for why I make 35% of all profits, I am majority stockholder of the company. Basically, I own it. I pitch them ideas, help them figure out how to make them work, and, if necessary, I fund them."

"So you're rich? Wait, if _you_ make 35% of all profits, what about all the workers? 65% spread out over all the workers isn't much." Verrin asked in disbelief.

Navarone went to answer, then paused and asked, "How do you know so much about companies and stock percentage?"

"My old trainer, Dylan, was learning about it. He would often talk to himself and I learned a lot from listening to him, but still don't know somethings. Once he went to college, he released me because he knew I loved to travel." Verrin answered.

Navarone nodded and explained, "I make a percentage of all _profits_. All workers are paid, bills paid, damaged equipment replaced, and new equipment bought. Everything left over after that is called 'profits.' I make 35% of that. The other 65% is spread out over the other five stockholders. I don't really know them, and I don't know the exact amounts they make."

Verrin nodded, then chuckled.

"What's so amusing?" Navarone asked.

"I didn't expect to get a lesson on business again." Verrin explained.

Navarone was about to speak, but was stopped when the side door opened again, and Nurse Joy walked out, followed by Professor Oak, who was followed by 3 Pokemon.

The first one Navarone noticed was a tall figure with blue hair, pale skin, and a white blue dress. Obviously a Gardevoir, Navarone knew that was Liz. In Liz's arms were a Riolu and a Buneary.

Whereas Harmony and Melody looked at Navarone and Verrin with curiousity and nervousness, Liz watched Navarone with unrestrained wariness and defensiveness. She stared at Navarone, sizing him up, seeing if he would be a threat to her and the young ones.

Professor Oak was the first to speak, "Navarone, I'd like you to meet Liz, the Gardevoir, Harmony, the Riolu, and Melody, the Buneary. Liz, Harmony, Melody, meet Navarone, an old friend of mine."

"It's nice to meet you three." Navarone said, "Although I wish it were under better circumstances."

"We'll leave you five here, Nurse Joy and I will go gather the medicine and bandages you'll need, Navarone, to make sure Liz heals properly." Professor Oak said, before he and Nurse Joy walked out.

It was silent for a moment, before a voice broke the silence.

"Liz, can me and Melody play with Verrin?" Navarone heard Harmony ask the Gardevoir.

"Yes, but only if he agrees with it. And don't leave the building. Okay?" Liz replied.

"Okay. I promise we won't leave." Melody said, before Liz set them both down.

Verrin looked up at Navarone, with an unspoken question.

Navarone said with a smile, "Go ahead. Make sure nothing happens to them as well."

"No problem Nav! I'll make sure they stay safe!" Verrin exclaims, before bounding out of the room with Melody and Harmony in tow.

" _Nav?_ Where the hell did that come from?" Navarone asked, confused.

Liz giggles a bit at seeing the three children run out of the room, so full of energy and excitement.

Navarone thought for a moment, the. said, "You did really well with them. Melody and Harmony that is. It's almost like nothing happened to them, other than being a little thinner."

Liz looked at Navarone closely, then spoke, "Verrin said the same thing. I couldn't let them get hurt. Their just kids."

Liz paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts, then spoke again, "Professor Oak, Nurse Joy, even Officer Jenny. They all trust you. You're friends with them?"

"Professor Oak. But Joy and Jenny, their families know a lot about me. I'm a traveler, Liz, they see me everywhere, and in every region."

Liz hesitated for a brief moment, then said, "They trust you, so I'm giving you a chance. But _I_ don't trust you. Not yet at least."

Navarone looked at Liz, a somber smile on his face, "I don't blame you, I truly don't. Not after what Apollo did to you."

Liz nodded, then changed the subject, "If you are a traveler, is that what we'll be doing?"

"No. We're going back to my house, on the eastern edge of Kanto."

Liz asked, "All the way on the other side? That's rather far. Do you expect us to _walk_ there?" Liz asked, irritated.

"Of course not. I'm going to buy a car. As for the distance, I've been all over the regions, except Alola, and I've always walked wherever I went. It'll be the first time in a couple years since I've been home."

"What's your house like? Our home was an old, rotting cabin in the middle of the woods. I found out a couple days ago that he had a real house in Lavender Town."

"How'd you not know about his house?" Navarone asked, curious.

"He'd spend almost all his time in the cabin. It's where he could mistreat us without being caught. He'd always hit me in a place that was covered, or make it look like a Pokemon did it." Liz stopped.

"I answered your question, now answer mine. I hope your house isn't a rotting shack." She said, rudely.

"My house isn't so much a _house_ as it is an _estate_. I inherited it from my parents, after they passed a few years back. The main house is three stories, plus an attic."

"A quarter-mile away, there is are another six houses, three are for the maids and their families, two for the groundskeepeds and their families, and the last for the cook and his family."

"There's also a rather large in-ground pool, which everyone has access to. And since the cook and his kids love golf, I had a golf course built." Navarone paused, then continued speaking.

"The house, on the first floor, has the kitchen, a dining room, and a living room. The second floor has three bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. The third floor has the master bedroom, a bathroom, and an office. Then the attic, which has some old boxes and that's it."

"So, don't worry about space. I'll be on an entirely different floor than you." Navarone said.

"What?" Liz asked, surprised.

"I figured that since Apollo treated you horriblely, you'd want plenty of space and privacy. You'll have the entire second floor to yourself, unless we have a guest. A room for you, a room for Melody and Harmony, and the guest room."

"That...that's really nice. Thank you." Liz said, a little remorseful about how she acted earlier.

"Don't worry about it. You may not like or trust me, but I want you three to be comfortable." Navarone said, earnestly, which only made her feel worse.

Liz hesitated for a long moment, before speaking, "Look...I'm sorry."

"What? You have nothing to be sorry about, Liz." Navarone asked, completely confused.

"But I do! I was so rude to you, all because of my bad experiences with _one_ human! I should have known that not everyone was the same. Oak, Joy, and Jenny proved that to me."

"It's completely understandable. You went through a lot, and I didn't expect you to be trusting of everyone you met." Navarone said, trying to reassure her.

"I know, but I thought you'd be the same as Apollo, or even worse. But after hearing what you do for your workers, it showed me that _maybe_ you were different."

"I'm still not trusting you, but at least I know you won't beat us." Liz finished.

Navarone was just about to speak, but just then the side door opened and Nurse Joy came out, with a small bag slung over her shoulder.

"Navarone, this bag has various medicines for Liz, as well as more bandages for her. You'll need to reapply the salves at least once a day." Nurse Joy said, then handed the bag to Navarone.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy. Although, what happened to Professor Oak?" Navarone asked.

"He went to find Verrin, Harmony, and Melody, then bring them back here. While he does that, you should go get the car you'll use. Liz, you need to stay here. Walking all over town isn't the best idea with your condition, okay?" Nurse Joy said to them both.

Navarone smiled, then said to Liz, "When they arrive, let Verrin know where I went please. It shouldn't take to long."

Liz simply nodded, and Navarone reached into his pack and pulled out three Luxury Balls.

"Nurse, while I'm gone, could you transfer all three of them into these please?"

"Of course." Nurse Joy replied, before taking the Luxury Balls, and the Pokeballs Liz and the two kids are linked to.

Liz watched the exchange warily, before asking, "What's the difference?"

Navarone smiled and simply said, "Ask Verrin. He knows."

Navarone then turned and walked out of the front door, heading to buy the car.

* * *

Navarone walked out of the PokeCenter and into Viridian City. As he did he looked up at the sky and saw that they had been in the building for a couple hours.

As he walked, he asked a stranger where the car dealership was and was told, "Head down that street for three blocks, turn left on Third Street, take the next right, and it'll be two blocks down, on the left."

Navarone then thanked the man, and followed his directions. Before long, he arrived at the dealership and was quickly greeted by a salesman.

Twenty minutes later, he drove away in a new car. It was a deep black color, and didn't have anything fancy.

One the way, he sent a message ahead to his estate saying be would be returning later that day. Five minutes later, he arrived back at the Center.

He pulled in next to it, got out and walked into the Pokemon Center.

* * *

Once Navarone left, Nurse Joy brought a chair out for Liz, who sat down with a, "Thank you."

"It's no problem at all. I'm going to go see what's taking Professor Oak so long." Nurse Joy then walked out in search of a certain Pokemon Professor.

Liz sat in silence for a short while, before the side door opened and Verrin ran out, followed by a certain pair of young Pokemon.

"Hey Liz! We were playing tag! Did you know that a Vulpix can run fast! He always caught us." Melody exclaimed.

Verrin looked around as Liz replied, then asked, "Where did Nav go?"

Liz turned to Verrin and answered, "Navarone went to buy the car for us to go to his home. He'll be back shortly. Although, I'm curious, why do you call him Nav?"

Verrin looked down, embarrassed, before replying, "Navarone is such a long name. It's faster and easier to say Nav."

Verrin the looked up, excited and surprised, his tail wagging, "Wait, we are going to see Nav's house! I can't wait!"

Liz smiled at Verrin's enthusiasm, then picked Harmony and Melody up, wincing slightly as her wounds twinged.

Just then, they heard a car door shut, and shortly after Navarone walked in.

* * *

Navarone walked inside building to see Harmony and Melody in Liz's arms, and Verrin sittimy on the floor, looking at Navarone excitedly.

"Nav, are we really going to your house?" Verrin asked as he ran over to Navarone.

"Yeah, we are. Are you excited?" Navarone asked, amused.

"Yeah! I can't wait to see your house! I bet it's big!" Verrin exclaimed.

Just as he said that, the side door opened and Nurse Joy walked out, followed by Professor Oak, who muttered, "You have no idea."

Professor Oak the turned to Navarone and spoke, "Well then, the car is here. I suppose it's time for you to leave then?"

Navarone smiled and said, "You sound a bit eager, Oak. Something you have to say?"

"Navarone! To insinuate that I am subtly admitting a dislike for you is a insult to my intelligence and honesty!" Professor Oak exclaimed, feigning outrage, but failing as he smiled.

Navarone chuckled, then said, "Unfortunetly, yes, this is the part where we must part ways. Of course, you both are welcome in my home, if you are ever passing by, or wishing to visit."

"To be honest, it'll be a shame to see you go, but I know I'll see you again." Professor Oak said, then spoke again, "I have to leave now, I'm needed in Pallet Town. A few children are waiting for their starters and I've been gone long enough."

Navarone reached out and shook Oak's hand, before he walked out the front doors and left.

"Come on, we should get going now, before it's get too late. I want to get home before dark." Navarone said.

Melody and Harmony jumped out of Liz's arms, and Verrin stood up. Nurse Joy handed Navarone the Luxury Balls, before she walked over to Liz and helped her up. All six of them walked out the front door and towards the car Navarone bought.

Navarone opened the front and back doors, passenger side, to allow the Pokemon to enter.

Liz slid into the backseat with Joy's help, with Melody and Harmony following right after her, before closing the door.

Navarone turned to Verrin and said with a smile, "Looks like your sitting in the front with me."

Verrin smiled and hopped into the passenger seat with a yip, and Navarone closed the door behind him.

 _Boundless energy, that one. Always excited._

Navarone began to walk around the car, but a hand latched onto his shoulder, and heard Nurse Joy fiercely whisper in his ear, "I know your a nice guy, and I know about Lilly and Grace, but I hear you hurt them, _I will end you._ Got it?"

Navarone smiled, even though Joy couldn't see it, and said, "If I ever change so much that I would abuse someone, I would hope you would end me."

Nurse Joy let him go, and when he turned him around, he saw she was already walking into the Center.

Navarone then entered the car, and, ignoring the questioning looks, pulled out and drove out of Viridian City.

* * *

The drive home was somewhat short, only two hours or so. Harmony, the Riolu, fell asleep on the ride. Melody was looking out the window, clearly fascinated with the passing scenery, as was Verrin.

As Navarone rounded the last corner, Liz, Verrin, and Melody all gasped in awe as they beheld Navarone's house for the first time.

It was three stories, four if you count the attic. It was built mainly of unpainted bricks, and had several tall windows. It consisted of three interlocking towers. The roof of the towers and porch were angled, and covered with dark grey shingles.

The front yard had green grass, recently cut, with a cement sidewalk cutting through it. On the left side, a large in-ground pool could be seen, and a road ran from the main road towards six pristine white houses in the distance.

The house's driveway consisted of a circular ring around a large fountain, which was spewing water from a stone sculpture of a roaring Arcanine. A forest surrounded the entire estate.

A small group of people could be seen on the porch, obviously the various workers. They seemed to be excited, as even from several hundred feet, they were obviously chatting, hands moving excitedly.

As Navarone pulled into the circular driveway and stopped the car, cutting the engine, the workers stopped and stared in shock.

Liz realized with a start that they were staring at her. She quickly became uncomfortable and looked away.

Navarone opened the door and stepped out, opening the back door right after. Verrin hopped out through the driver's door.

Liz looked down and saw that Harmony was still asleep, so she picked her up and looked to Melody, only to see she was already out and looking at the workers. Liz stepped out and saw that they were still looking at her, shock and confusion on her face.

Navarone spoke up, seeing the uncomfortable look on Liz's face, "Everyone, these are going to be our guests for a undefined amount of time. Liz is the Gardevoir, in her arms is Harmony, the Riolu. Next to her is Melody, a Buneary, and right beside me is Verrin, a Vulpix." He paused to take a breath, then continued.

"Liz, Verrin, Melody, Harmony, these are the workers at this estate. They worked for my parents, and when I inherited this place after my parent's death, I hired them again. After a while, I had the houses built for them and their families."

Navarone then began to introduce all six staff members, starting left to right.

"First up, we have Destiny, one of the three maids here at Planctus Lapidem Estate, that's the name of this place. She's rather creative and enjoys making sculptures, which she sells for a bit of extra money."

Destiny was neither short nor tall, comfortably in between. Her eyes were a dark shade of green and had blonde hair down to her back.

"Then we have Daron, our cook. He is very skilled, and very proud of his skills, which he has ever right to be."

Daron smiled at Navarone's words. He had blonde hair as well, it went down to the back of his neck. His eyes were the same blue as Navarone. His height seemed to be the same as Destiny's.

"Next is James, one of the groundskeepers. Without him and Austin, the outside wouldn't look anywhere near as nice as it does. He's similar to Destiny, but paints instead of sculpts."

James was rather tall, almost as tall as Navarone, with brown hair that went close to his eyes, which were green, and had a wise look, as if he knew something you didn't."

Then we have Austin and Julie. Brother and sister. Austin is very patient, and will often notice something you overlooked. Julie is another maid and is always cheery. She loves her job here, and was very happy that I hired her back."

Julie and Austin were the same on height, and a inch shorter than Destiny. Austin had black hair cut relatively short, with blue eyes, although a darker shade than Navarone's.

Julie, however, had long brown hair down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were green, the same as James.

"And last, but certainly not least, we have Alyss, our last maid. She absolutely loves Pokemon, especially small, canine Pokemon. So watch out Verrin, she might try to cuddle you. She's also a bit mischievous, but we love having her here."

Alyss blushed at Navarone's words, and smiled at him, before turning to Verrin with an obvious look of delight.

"And that's the entire staff here at Planctus Lapidem Estate!" Navarone finished his introductions.

Liz then asked a question that bugged her since the Destiny's intro, "That's twice you said that. What does it mean?"

"It's translated into a dead language my dad was obsessed with. It means 'Wailing Stone,' due to the stone formations a few miles north that, on a windy day, will sing beautiful notes."

Destiny smiled and said, "This place is literally named Wailing Stone Estate."

Her words shocked Liz, who then noticed, for the first time, that all six had Pokemon translators.

"It's good to see you all again. It's been a long while." Navarone spoke.

After several minutes of exchanging pleasantries, Daron, the cook, spoke, "Dinner has been prepared already. I did not know what our guests would eat, so I prepared a large spread."

"Then let's eat. I'm sure the Pokemon are hungry. I know me and Verrin are. We missed lunch and I missed your cooking." Navarone said.

"Then come, come. Dinner awaits." Daron led the Pokemon and Navarone to the dining room, and the other five staff left to go to their own homes, to their own families.

* * *

Dinner was a quiet affair. It was simple, but no less delicious for it. After thanking Daron for dinner, the cook left to go to his own home.

Navarone then stood and spoke, "I suppose it's time for bed. Liz can take the middle room on the second floor, while Harmony and Melody can sleep in either of the other two."

Navarone was going to continue, but was interrupted, "But we wanna sleep with Liz!" Melody exclaimed, quickly followed by a, "Yeah!" from Harmony.

Navarone looked at Liz, who smiled nodded. Navarone then corrected his statement, "All right, all three of you will sleep in the same room, whichever you choose. The beds are large." Navarone paused, then spoke again.

"The bathrooms are fully stocked with towels, washrags, and various soaps and shampoos. Don't be shy on what you use. They are there for your enjoyment."

"Verrin, do you want to sleep with me, or by yourself?" Navarone asked, addressing the Vulpix.

"You, of course!" Verrin exclaimed.

Navarone smiled, expecting that answer. "Then I suppose it is time to retire for the night."

"Liz, I know that you never planned to come here, but I hope you do enjoy your stay, however long it is."

Liz replied with a smile on her face, "Thank you, Navarone. Truly. I do."

Navarone replied, "There is no need to thank me, I only did what a decent person would do."

They soon left the dining room, and the Gardevoir left into the first room on the second floor, the two children following behind.

Navarone and Verrin continued to the third floor, where Navarone gave Verrin a bath, before taking a shower himself.

Afterwards, he left the bathroom to see Verrin curled up on of the pillows on the bed, already fast asleep. Navarone smiled before joining him, quickly falling in to slumber himself.

 **Geez. Over 5,000 words, literally. Longer and longer each time. But, I don't think I'll let a chapter be more than 5k now. I'll split it if possible.**

 **It was intended to be slightly over 3,000 words, but there was so much dialogue that I couldn't end it, and added two more scenes.** **Also, I should be able to update one more chapter,** **then may need to take a break to study for Finals and EOCs. I'll try to get them done ASAP, but I truly have no clue how long I'll be paused. No more than a month.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm terribly sorry for how long this has taken, but I'm stalled on Thanksgiving as well as studying for my tests.** **I threw this chapter together in a day, so it might have a decent amount of errors in it. I still need to study, but I'll try to update whenever possible.**

 **I'm also going to use a new system for line breaks. Instead of placing an actual line break, I'm going to do this:**

 **XXXXX**

 **The reason why is that I'm doing this on a phone, so line breaks are a major pain as I need to go into the files on the site, which add almost another 20 minutes to editing. Apologies for the long note, and without further ado,**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, as I am currently in the 11th grade, and am completely unable to own a several decade old series.**

XXXXX

Navarone awoke, but did not arise from his bed. He simply lied there, allowing his mind to adjust to being awake, and his senses to sharpen. He soon became aware of a slight weight on his chest.

He cracked opened his eyes, and saw the ruddy-orange fur of a certain Vulpix on his chest. He saw the canine's body rise and fall with his own breathing, and smiled at the sight.

Navarone decided to let Verrin sleep a little longer, and turned his attention inward, to his thoughts. The first thing he thought of was his new guests; Liz, Melody, and Harmony. A Gardevoir, Buneary, and Riolu, respectively.

He thought about what to do with them. The two children seemed to be unaffected by their mistreatment, luckily. They were simply underfed, and Liz made sure they were never touched.

Navarone was worried, however, that they might have been mentally or emotionally abused, and their young minds simply suppressed it.

He was also concerned about Liz. She gave a large portion of her food to Harmony and Melody every meal they got, and subsequently was far more malnourished. She, unlike the two others, was also regularly beat, leading to wounds and bruises, the former of which might scar.

Navarone also believed that she may have experienced sexual abuse, but had no evidence. If she had been raped, neither she nor Apollo ever said anything, and this worried him.

What confused him the most, thought, was _how_ _How_ was she abused. A Gardevoir is a powerful psychic-type, and she was an Altered, or a _'Shiny'_ as some would say. She was even stronger than normal. Navarone's mind kept coming back to the same question.

 _What stopped her from simply killing him and escaping?_

Navarone realized that he had shifted when he asked himself that question, and tuned into the world. He felt Verrin begin to move, and knew he was close to awakening. He decided to wait for the fire type to awaken normally.

His wait was, fortunately short, as Verrin soon stirred and opened his eyes. The first thing Verrin saw was his friend's bright blue eyes looking down at him, a small smile gracing his face.

Navarone reached to a bedside table and placed the translators on, then spoke up, albeit quietly, "Did you enjoy sleeping on my chest?"

Verrin smiled and nodded, before saying, "My old trainer wouldn't let me sleep with him. I think he was worried that I would set the bed on fire."

Navarone frowned thoughtfully for a moment, then asked, "Could you even set a bed on fire in your sleep?"

Verrin made an odd coughing growl sound, which Navarone took for a canine laugh, "No, I don't spontaneously burst into flame. I couldn't exactly tell Alex that, though."

Navarone decided it was time to get up when he looked over at the digital clock on the nightstand and saw that it was 8:30 in the morning. He told Verrin and they both got out of bed, and Verrin went downstairs while Navarone changed out of his night clothes, which were a T-shirt and shorts, into a pair of black pants, and a white short, which he left untucked.

Navarone then went downstairs and as he walked down the second floor hall, he passed by the occupied guest room and heard movement within. He smiled, knowing it would not be long before the three Pokemon joined them for breakfast.

He arrived in the dining room and saw Verrin already seated. As he sat down, Daron entered from the kitchen as asked, "What would you like for breakfast, Navarone?"

He thought for a moment, "I think bacon, eggs, pancakes, toast, and salad would be good. With that spread, it's inevitable there's something that everyone likes. I hope it's not too much a challenge for you, Daron." He finished, with the last sentence acquiring a teasing tone.

Daron smirked, "Of course not. I enjoy making larger meals, Milord." Daron then left to cook breakfast for the four Pokemon and human.

" _Milord?_ " Liz asked, having walked in with Melody and Harmony as Daron spoke, before all three took a seat. Liz sat to Navarone's right, with Melody and Melody a few seats down, across from Verrin.

Navarone sighed at the questioning looks, and answered, "This is an estate, which I effectively own after inheriting it. I am, officially, the Lord of the Estate. Technically, they are supposed to address me as 'Lord Navarone.' However, that is an outdated system from the Renaissance and Medieval Ages, so I _told_ them not to do it, but they do every once in a while to tease me."

Liz then asked a question that she was extremely curious about, "So you don't like ordering people around? And is this place a relic of those ages?"

Navarone replied with a small frown, "No, I've never been all that bossy and demanding. I also hate when people use their power and wealth to force others to do things. Everyone who works here knows I'll never ask them to do something I'm not willing to."

"And yes, this place was built during the late 1,400s. It had been passed down my bloodline for the past 600 years." Navarone then looked at Liz, and smiled.

"Now, since I didn't get a chance to say this before, good morning Liz, Melody, and Harmony. I hope you slept well. Daron is preparing a decent sized breakfast, with toast, bacon, eggs, pancakes, and salads, so there should be at least one thing you like."

Liz smiled at him, surprised at how thoughtful he was being and said, "Thank you Navarone."

Navarone looked at Liz seriously, before saying, "I haven't done anything that needs thanks. I only did what needs to be done. It wouldn't have been necessary if Apollo had been a decent human being."

At that moment, Daron walked out of the kitchen door, pushing a cart laden with covered trays that did nothing to block the smells.

Verrin, Melody, and Harmony all became excited at the wonderful smells, and Verrin began to drool.

Navarone laughed at that, and spoke, "Verrin, you might want to close your mouth."

Verrin snapped out of it, closed and wiped his mouth, and smiled sheepishly at Navarone, and said, "Thanks for telling me, it would've been more embarrassing if I drooled at the table.

Daron then pulled the lids off the plates, revealing a wide array of bacon, eggs, sausages, pancakes, waffles, toast, and salads.

"Alright everyone, tell Daron what you want, starting with Verrin." Navarone said, letting the three younger ones choose first.

Verrin, being a canine, understandably chose a decent amount of bacon and sausages, but also requested eggs.

Melody, a herbivore, chose a salad and a few pancakes with syrup, a mismatched meal as any.

Harmony and Liz both requested pancakes, syrup, eggs, and bacon. Navarone had the same thing.

Navarone thanked Daron, adding in a request afterwards, "Please leave the trolley here, in case anyone is still hungry. Like always, your free to do whatever until lunch.

After Daron left, Navarone spoke to the Pokemon, "I'm sure you'll enjoy breakfast, Daron is a great cook. If you are still hungry after finishing your plate, you don't need to ask for more, eat as much as your want."

Liz, being closer than the others, was able to hear him mutter, "Lord knows they can use the extra calories."

 _Maybe he isn't so bad_ Liz thought to herself.

Breakfast itself was a quiet affair, everyone enjoying the well prepared food, especially the Pokemon, who had never experienced Daron's breakfast cooking.

Melody, Harmony, and Liz each ate several plates of food, which was completely understandable and welcome. Navarone had been worried that they had lost their appetite, which he was glad was not the case.

What _did_ surprise him was that Verrin ate more than they did, which made him wonder if he had trouble finding food before, or just had a black hole for a stomach.

After breakfast was over, Verrin, Melody, and Harmony ran outside to play, with Liz saying, "Stay in the yard."

Navarone began loading the plates on the trolly, and was surprised when Liz began to help him. He recovered, and said, "You don't have to help, you know that, right?"

"Yes, but I want to help. It's the least I could do since your feeding us and taking care of us." Liz said.

Navarone looked at Liz, and spoke firmly, "You don't need to do anything. I want to help you, and it's not like you three being here is a problem. I'm freaking rich. Company is enough."

Liz muttered something that was to quiet for him to hear, so he asked, "What was that, Liz?"

She replied, louder, "It doesn't feel right."

Navarone's eyes softened, then said, "I understand what you mean. I'm the same way. If you really want to help, you can. Just try to take it easy so you don't aggravate your wounds."

They finished cleaning table, and Navarone pushed the trolley into the kitchen and began loading the dishes into the dishwasher, with Liz handing him the dishes.

Liz then asked, "What does that do?"

Navarone looked over, and asked, "This is a dishwasher. You place them in here with a bit of soap. It'll wash them, then dry them. It takes a little over an hour. How did you wash dishes?"

Liz looked down, then said, "It was one of the things I did or got beaten. We had one of these, but I didn't know what it was. Even then, I was told to never use it."

Navarone put a hand on her shoulder, and asked in a soft vouce, "Liz... What stopped you three from escaping? You're a powerful phsyic-type."

"He had an odd device. It stopped me from using my powers. Trust me, I tried. Anyway, after they are dry, do you just leave them in there?"

"One of the maids will put them up. Compared to most estates, they have little cleaning to do a day."

"That reminds me, where are they?" Liz asked.

"They don't arrive and work until almost noon. Daron is the only one here early."After Navarone finished loading the dishwasher, they went into the living room. The room held two couches, a love seat, and two recliners, all aligned to face a large plasma TV mounted on the wall. Two bookshelves flanked the TV, both filled with books.

Navarone looked at Liz and said, "If any of the books interest you, go ahead and grab one."

Navarone then grabbed a short, but thin book off the shelf, and sat down in one of the recliners. Liz grabbed a tall and thin book of the same shelf and sat on the couch.

Navarone looked over and spoke, "' _Among the Hidden?_ ' Good book. It's the first part of a seven-book series, called _Shadow Children_."

Liz asked, "What book are you reading?"

Navarone lifted his book, and it clearly showed the title in gold lettering. Liz then asked, " _'The Hobbit_?' That's an odd name."

Navarone smiled and said, "Yeah, but it's fitting when you read it. The author, a man named J.R.R. Tolkien, who died a few years ago, not only wrote this book, but created an entire world. It was a childhood favorite of mine."

Liz smiled and asked, "Did he make a lot from that? Although, it's sad he passed away."

"It was so good, even his grandchildren are making millions from it. Fortunetly, though, he lived a long life before he passed."

Liz and Navarone read in silence for a while, before they heard the front door open and saw Julie, Alyss, and Destiny walk in. When they saw Navarone, they stopped and Alyss said, "We'll get to work, Navarone."

Navarone smiled and said, "Don't rush yourself. Take your time, and plently of breaks."

The three maids smiled, and went to work, Alyss heading to the kitchen, and Julie and Destiny heading upstairs.

Navarone saw Liz looking at him curiously. He looked at her and rose an eyebrow.

In response to the unasked question, Liz asked, "Aren't maids supposed to wear a certain outfit?"

He smiled and said, "They said the outfit was uncomfortable, so I told them they could wear whatever, within reason."

Liz made to reply, but just then the front door was slammed open, and a ball of orange slammed in to Navarone, and was revealed to be Verrin. Melody and Harmony came in after, giggling to themselves.

"What was that for, Verrin? If you weren't so small, that could've stung." Navarone said, curiously.

"Nav, we were wondering if you'd.." Verrin trailed off and looked down, seemingly embarrassed to ask the question.

Navarone gently grabbed the canine's muzzle, and raised it up while smiling softly. He said, in a gentle, comforting voice, "Verrin, you know you can ask me anything. Judging by the way you ran in here, combined with Melody's and Harmony's giggling, you want me to play a game with you, huh?"

Verrin smiled and said, "Yeah, we wanted to play hide and seek, and In was wondering if you'd play with us?"

Navarone smiled and closed his book, marking his place with a solid, simple black bookmark. He stood up while carrying Verrin and walked towards the door, Melody and Harmony close behind, with Liz watching with a small smile on her face.

"Of course I would! But who's it first?"

XXXXX

"1...2...3...4." Navarone counted, having been immediately told he was it as soon as the door closed. He told them not to hide in the forest, and to stay in the front yard.

Which wouldn't help him, as it was covered in bushes, hedges, trees, sculptures, and the massive fountain in the middle.

"58...59...60! Ready or not, here I come!" Navarone stood up from the front porch, the 'base' for their game. He looked around and almost instantly spotted a tail, an ear, and a leg. From that, he could clearly see that all three hid behind the same bush.

Navarone smiled, and decided to walk around the edge and sneak and behind them. As he got close, he heard all three giggling, and chuckled to himself.

"Nav'll never find us. We hid too good!" He heard Melody whisper excitedly.

Navarone chuckled internally and thought _So they call me Nav too? Guess it is easier than Navarone._

He slowled down and watched his footsteps, making sure he made no noise. Once he was right behind them, and could clearly see them, he knelt down very slowly and quietly, and prepared to grab them.

Harmony reached into the bush and pulled some leaves apart and asked, "Where is he? I can't see him."

Navarone then reached forward and scooped up all three, saying, "I'm right behind you!"

They all shouted, startled, and started laughed once they saw it was him. Harmony asked, "How long were you there?"

"A little few minutes, since Melody said I couldn't find you." Navarone then set them down.

Navarone blinked, surprised, when Harmony reached up and tapped his nose, and shouted, "Tag, your it!" before all three ran away, surprisingly fast, laughing.

Navarone laughed and chased after them, moving just fast enough for it to be fair. He happened to look at the window, and saw Liz looking out and smiling.

Navarone grinned, and waved for her to come join, which she did. They played with the three children until they were exhausted.

Navarone and Liz walked inside with three tired, but happy, children in their arms.

XXXXX

 **And** **was chapter 4. A decent bit short than the others, but I did throw it together in a few hours. I may or may not get chapter 5 up in** **the next week or two**


	5. Chapter 5

**And Chapter 5 is here. I hope the wait didn't upset to many people. This chapter is a decent deal longer than the last. I had planned to have the first battle happen this chapter, but this happened instead.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. I can't, considering I've never played a game.**

XXX

After the two put the three young Pokemon into their beds, Navarone began walking towards the front door, and Liz followed.

Navarone stopped and the front door and turned to Liz.

"I'm going walking for a couple hours. In about three hours, Daron will come by and begin cooking dinner. I should be back not long after him, if not, go ahead and eat without me." He said.

"Why are you going walking for so long?" Liz asked out of curiosity.

"Well, first I'm going to the Wailing Stones. I like to go there every once in a while and listen to it. Afterward, I'm just going to walk around. It became a habit of mine." Navarone explained.

Liz opened her mouth, but quickly closed it. Navarone noticed it anyway, though.

"Is there something you want to ask?"

Liz blushed in embarrassment at being caught, and asked quietly, "Would you mind if I come and see the Wailing Stones?"

"Of course not! On a day like this, I'm sure that they are a bit louder than normal." Navarone said as they walked outside and headed down the path to the woods.

Navarone stopped suddenly and looked at Liz with concern clear in his ice blue eyes. "On second thought, are you sure you're up for it? It _is_ nearly a half hour walk there, and you're still hurt."

Liz smiled softly. "I'm fine. Two good meals and a night's rest in a real bed helped a lot."

Navarone nodded and they began walking again. After a few minutes of walking and watching the scenery, Liz broke the silence. "Thank you."

Navarone looked over and asked. "For what?"

"Everything." Liz said seriously, "I used to think humans were cruel to Pokemon, and that they used us for entertainment. I must have just had bad experiences because you've fed us and given us a home, and we haven't done anything."

"Liz... Don't worry about that. I am honestly happy to help. You don't need to do anything. I wouldn't care if you sat on the couch and never got up again." Both of them smiled at that.

"I know. It just doesn't feel right. Before Apollo caught me, I was taught to repay debts and never take advantage of someone. It feels wrong for me to live here and not do anything to help." Liz spoke with a kind of sadness born of longing for the past.

Navarone placed a hand on Liz's shoulder. "Liz, you may not believe it, but you _are_ doing something. You're here. I was extremely lonely after... I started traveling to distract myself. All four of you, you, Melody, Harmony, and Verrin, have helped me a lot."

Liz didn't say anything for a while, and when she did, she spoke very softly. "That's twice now. You've stopped yourself from saying something about the past. Who was Lilly? Grace? What happened?"

Navarone looked at her with a deep-seated sadness in his eyes. Liz knew that whatever happened, it drowned his soul in sorrow. "Who told you those names?"

"Verrin heard you say them in your sleep. Don't be mad at him. He's just worried about you." Liz said in his defense.

Navarone chuckled, but it held no mirth and made Liz shiver. "I'm not mad. I can't be, really. I talk in my sleep, and like you said, he's just worried."

Navarone stopped so suddenly that Liz walked a few more steps, and she had to turn around.

"Look Liz, the Wailing Stones aren't that much farther ahead. Follow the path there, and when you're done, follow it back."

"Nav..?"

"I'll probably be back a but after night fall. Tell Daron not to wait for me, okay? I'll eat later." Navarone said, then walked off into the woods, not on a path.

XXX

Liz watched as he left, and couldn't help but feel that she had made a mistake. She slowly walked deeper into the woods, following the path, but lost in her thoughts.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she was startled when she heard a low pitched note ring out around her. She saw she was in a clearing with several pillars and rocks, all of which had holes of varying sizes. Some were balanced in rather precarious positions.

As she watched, she felt a strong gust blow through the clearing, and heard several noted sound out, and they combined into a beautiful, albeit slightly haunting, melody.

She smiled. _Maybe I should bring Melody and Harmony_ _here. Verrin too._

That was when she noticed that she was on the edge of a cliff. She noticed it when she saw the ground ended a little past the Stones.

She walked over and held onto one of the more solid rocks as she peered over the edge. The ground looked to be a hundred meters below(One meter is roughly one yard.).

She backed away, shivering not with cold, but fear.

 _If the wind happened to blow in just the right direction, I would have been blown over the edge._

Once she had put distance between her and the ledge, she calmed down slightly.

 _No wonder the wind is so strong. It comes in from over the cliff, and has nothing blocking it._ She gazed at where the ground gave way.

 _If I do bring them, I'd have to be very careful and make sure they stay away from the edge._

She was terrified at the thought of losing one of them, even Verrin who she wasn't particularly close too. She couldn't imagine what it would feel like to lose someone you love.

 _Like how Navarone felt when Lilly and Grace, whoever they were, died._

Because that was what she had managed to figure out. Lilly and Grace were someone important to him, and they must've died. Only the death of loved ones can cause someone that much sadness.

 _Who were Lilly and Grace? I'm so curious. Obviously, I can't ask him about it because he won't tell. Him leaving to avoid the topic showed that._

 _Maybe it's a bad secret? No, I_ _severely doubt he's hiding something dangerous or bad from us. I think whatever happened just hurt him dearly._

 _Hmm. Maybe they were both past lovers? No, probably not. Navarone has hinted that he knew them both at the same time, and that Grace was rather young._

 _Friends? Possibly, but I doubt their deaths could have hurt him that bad. It would hurt, yes, but Navarone is strong. I don't think losing friends would affect him like that._

 _Wait. When I first arrived, I had Harmony in my arms and everyone was staring at me. What made them look at me like that? Were they a Gardevoir and Riolu?_

After a moment, she groaned and shook her head.

 _Ugh, I'm so stupid. I'll just ask Daron or somebody_ _else who was here when they were. If they really had worked here since Nav's parents, that should be all six of them._

Having decided upon a course of action, she turned around and began to follow the path back to the Planctus Lapidem Estate.

XXX

Navarone walked through the woods with a sole purpose of distracting himself. To keep his mind away from the past, and on the present and future.

It wasn't working.

XXX

 _The storm continued outside the cave, not letting up for a second. If anything, it seemed to worsen. Inside the cave, two figures could be seen_ _, both sitting close to a fire. One was a human boy, the other a Ralts._

 ** _How did you get lost, Navarone?_**

 _"I was be...being chased. A Growlithe, I think. I got scared, and ra...ran for a long time. After I escaped it, it started... raining, and I saw I was l...lost." Navarone said, with sniffles breaking his sentences._

 _Lilly looked at the boy, and moved to sit next to him, before pulling him into a hug. Navarone hugged her back, and soon calmed down._

 _"I ran through the rain, hoping for somewhere safe, and found this place. And you."_

 _Lilly was silent for a moment._

 ** _It is far too cold for you to try to go home. Stay here for the night, okay? The fire will keep you warm. Go ahead and sleep._**

 _"Thank you, Lilly."_

 ** _You're welcome._**

 _Lilly placed his head on her shoulder, and held him as he fell asleep. She stayed like that all through the night, reingniting the fire to keep them warm. After a few hours, the storm stopped, but she let the boy sleep._

XXX

"You were so nice that night, Lilly. You thought I was there to capture you, but once you saw I was a little boy, you changed. You did everything you could to help me." A strangled sob jerked past Navarone's lips.

"We never should have gone through Johto." Navarone said.

XXX

Liz quickly made her way down the path, hoping she would stumble across Navarone, but she never did. Soon, she exited the woods and made her way back to the manor.

As she neared, she noticed one of the groundskeepers, James, exit a shed behind the house. She quckly made her way over there.

"James, do you have a moment?" Liz asked him.

"Of course I do, Lil-Liz, what do you need?" James asked, his stutter proving to Liz that he knew Lilly.

"I just had a couple questions, if you are willing to answer." Liz said.

"Sure, I'm done for the day, and I'm happy to help."

"Who were Lilly and Grace?" Liz asked, straight to the point.

"I don't know what you mean." James said, feigning ignorance, but he replied far too quickly, and his smile dropped from his face.

Liz sighed. "Don't do that. I know you knew them. You almost called me Lilly. And Verrin has been hearing Navarone say their names in his sleep."

James sighed, and started to walk away. "Follow me. We might as well sit down because it's a long story."

They both entered the manor and walked into the living room. No one was in there, so they sat down.

James was the first to speak. "How much do you actually know?"

"I don't _know_ anything, but I think Lilly was a Gardevoir, and Grace a Riolu. Am I right or no?" Liz answered, then asked.

"Well, you are right about that. Lilly was a Altered Gardevoir, like you. Grace was a young Riolu, like Harmony." James began.

"Navarone met Lilly when he was eleven. He had been chased into the woods by a Growlithe, and got lost when it started storming."

"Needless to say, all of us were worried when he didn't come home that day, but we couldn't search for him because of the storm. We hoped that he had found shelter."

"He found a cave, but a Ralts was in there. They introduced themselves, and she let him stay in the cave until the storm ended. Then she led him to the Wailing Stones, where he found his way back. That's the short version, at least."

XXX

 _Navarone woke up with a start, and was surprised when he felt a slight weight on his chest._

 _As he looked down and saw an Altered Ralts sleeping on his chest, and his memories of the night before came back_ _and he smiled at the Pokemon._

She must have fallen asleep and slid onto my chest.

 _Then he frowned._

I owe her so much. I would have died of cold last night.

 _Navarone looked out the cave entrance and saw that the storm had completely stopped throughout the night._

 _He felt movement as the Ralts began to wake up. He looked down and smiled as she rubbed her eyes and let out a cute yawn._

 _"Cute." He commented._

 _Lilly jumped up and off his chest, but relaxed as she remembered the storm._

 ** _I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep, but I was tired from staying up all might._**

 _Navarone frowned with confusion. "You stayed up all night? Why?"_

 _Lilly smiled slightly at him. **I kept the fire going, to make sure you were warm.**_

 _Navarone got up and hugged her. He felt her tense, then relax. "Thank you. You didn't have to do that."_

 _Navarone stepped back. "The rain has stopped, and it's day, so I guess I'll leave." He didn't want to though._

 ** _Okay. Be careful._**

 _He walked out the entrance and went into the woods. He walked for a few minutes, then stopped. He looked around at the surround woods, and didn't recognize anything._

 _"Oh, right. I'm lost." Navarone scratched the back of his head, feeling stupid._

 _He was startled as he heard a giggle, and spun around to see Lilly behind him._

 _"Where'd you come from?"_

 ** _I remembered you said you were lost, and followed you. Need any help?_**

 _Navarone smiled sheepishly, and spoke. "Yeah, do you know of some stones that make music? There's a path that leads back to my home."_

 ** _Oh! I know where that is!_**

 _Navarone grinned his crooked grin, and asked, "Great! Can you lead me there, please?"_

 _Lilly blushed slightly at his grin, but giggled at his excitement. **Of course, follow me.**_

 _Lilly giggled again, and ran into the woods, and Navarone laughed as he followed her._

XXX

"Navarone came back the next day, telling a story of a Ralts having saved his life. Lilly didn't come back with him because even though she trusted him, she was still wary of most humans."

"What happened then?" Liz asked when James paused for a minute.

"Navarone would go back into the woods all the time and meet Lilly. He'd go to the Wailing Stones and meet her there, and they'd spend the entire day together."

"And Navarone's parents were perfectly okay with it?" Liz asked. "Not many would like their son being friends with Pokemon.

"Mrs. Janet and Mr. Cort were the same as Navarone. They treated Pokemon as friends and equals, not servants. They were happy he made a friend, and hoped it would show him Pokemon were intelligent and deserved respect. It did."

"He kept going to her, and they became close friends. He always talked about her. Me and Destiny, we thought that maybe their friendship would become something more." James chuckled as he said that.

"Eventually and inevitably, winter came with the lack of food and warmth that came with it. It took a week, but Navarone convinced Lilly to come here. The promise of good and plenty food convinced her, as she was already hungry constantly."

"Of course, he asked his parents if Lilly could stay here before he offered. Naturally, they said yes." James smiled.

XXX

 _"Come on, Lilly! It's the middle of winter! You freezing, and probably starving as well. I can't bear to see you like this. Just come back with me. No one will hurt you." Navarone pleaded desperately._

 ** _I am not freezing or starving!_**

 _"Lilly, look at yourself. I can see your ribs through your dress. You are so hungry, you can't use your powers for a fire. You'll die out here. Plea-" Navarone's voice broke and he stopped mid word._

 _"I can't lose you, Lilly. Especially not when I can help you." The pain in his voice was so clear and real that Lilly relented._

 _ **Okay.**_

 _"Okay?" Navarone asked hopefully._

 ** _Okay._** _Lilly confirmed. **Just don't let anyone hurt me.**_

 _"I promise. My family knows I come out here to meet you, and they are happy I have a friend. They'll never hurt you." Navarone said._

 ** _But they don't know I'm not human, do they?_**

 _"They know. I told them. And I asked if you could live with us for at least the winter." He said, proudly._

 _ **You planned this.**_

 _"I saw how you were getting weaker, and knew I had to help. Now come on, we need to get to our home."_

 _They both started walking back to the manor, but Navarone had to support Lilly on his shoulder._

 ** _Thank you, Navarone. I hate to admit it, but I would have died out here if it wasn't for you._**

 _"Anytime, Lilly, I'm happy to help you." Navarone said, baring his trademarked grin, causing her to blush._

XXX

"Understadably, most of us were surprised when we saw Lilly. At the time, translators didn't exist, and Navarone never mentioned she had telepathy, so it shocked us all when she 'spoke' for the first time." James said.

"I don't think she expected to be welcomed so warmly, or to be treated so kindly. And all throughout it, Navarone kept smirking at her, and I knew he was thinking, "I told you so.""

"Winter came and went, and he turned twelve. On his birthday, he was thrown a party and asked to invite anyone he wanted. He had a bunch of friends, and obviously Lilly was invited."

"Things went well until one of his friends tried to 'catch' Lilly after learning she wasn't captured by any of them. Lilly panicked and teleported away, so Navarone sent them all home and went to find her."

"He ended his birthday party for her?" Liz asked, surprised.

"Of course. He had grown closer to her than anyone else. Even though he wouldn't admit it, he knew most of his friends were only his friends because he was rich, so when he met someone who wasn't after his money, they became close." James said.

"Anyway, from what I heard, he found her back at her old cave and he comforted her all through the night."

"I think it was then that the seeds of love were planted." James said with a smile on his face.

XXX

 _"Lilly_ _!" A voice cried out into the woods, barely heard over the Wailing Stones._

 _"I saw her run this way. Where is she?" Navarone mused to himself._

 _The realization hit him like a truck._

 _"The cave!" Navarone exclaimed to himself and took off through the woods._

 _He ran for several minutes, following a path from_ _memory. He soon came upon a familiar cave. He knew he had guessed right when he heard sobbing coming from within._

 _He darted into the cave to see a sight that tugged at his heart and sent tears to his eyes. Lilly, a Ralts, was curled up in the corner, loud sobs racking her body._

 _He moved over to her and sat down beside her, before pulling the Pokemon into his embrace._

 _He felt her tense, then relax as she buried her face into his shirt._

 _ **Why are you here? You have a party going on.** She asked, after a few minutes had passed and she stopped sobbing, but not crying._

 _H_ _e didn't hesitate. "I sent everyone home once you ran off. I was_ not _going to abandon my only friend for a few people who don't really care about me."_

 _ **What** **are you talking about, Navarone? You have a lot of friends.**_

 _"No, I don't, Lilly. They are only my friends because I'm rich. I'm young, but smart. If I wasn't rich, not even five of them would be here." Navarone said, before hugging Lilly tighter._

 _"You are my only real friend. It was an easy choice between you and my party."_

 _Lilly looked up with her red-rimmed eyes and saw that her tears had soaked his shirt._

 ** _I'm sorry for messing up your shirt. You got that today, didn't you?_**

 _Navarone laughed lightly. "It is just a shirt, Lilly. It doesn't matter. I'm glad your feeling better."_

 _ **Do you really care for me that much?**_

 _Navarone pulled Lilly into his chest, and hugged her tightly, but not to tight. "Of course I do. I wasn't kidding when I said you are my only real friend."_

 ** _Navarone?_**

 _"It hurts me to see you like this, Lilly. Please smiled again. I can't stand to see you like this." Navarone pleaded, with sadness lacing his voice._

 _As Lilly heard this, a bright white light lit up the cave, nearly blinding Navarone. When it faded, a Ralts wasn't in his arms anymore._ _Instead, a taller figure wearing a white ballet dress with blue leggings stood their. The figure still had orange eyes, and the orange gem, but it stuck out here head at a 180 degree angle from how it was._

 _"Lilly, you evolved!"_

 _ **Into a Kirlia.** **Thanks to you.** Her voice held tender affection and happiness._

XXX

"We were all surprised when they came back, and she wasn't a Ralts anymore." James said. "We were happy that he was able to comfort her, though."

"Time passed, and Navarone turned fifteen and got bored here. He decided he wanted to go traveling."

"Wait, don't children get their first Pokemon when they turn ten?" Liz asked, confused.

James chuckled. "Normally, yes, but Navarone didn't want a Pokemon that would be forced to travel with him. He wanted one that would choose to travel with him."

"Lilly."

James nodded. "Right. He wanted to travel, but not leave Lilly behind. However, they were both worried that someone would notice that Lilly wasn't caught, and would catch her. So she allowed Navarone to catch her."

"She trusted him _that_ much?" Liz was astonished.

"Yeah. He was the only one she trusted that much."

XXX

 _ **What's wrong, Nav?** Lilly, a Kirlia, said to the now fifteen year old teenager._

 _"I want to go traveling, Lilly. To see the world. To meet new people." Navarone said. "I'm bored here. There's nothing but people here vying for my families wealth."_

 _Navarone hesitated here, then spoke again._ _"I'm probably going to leave next week. I'll probably be traveling for several years. I don't know if we'll see each other again for a long time." Navarone said, sadness filling his soul._

 _ **So you'll just leave me? Forget about me and abandon me?** Lilly sounded hurt_ _._

 _"I have no way to protect you. Some random guy would notice that you're not caught, catch you, and we really_ would _never see each other again."_

 _"I want_ _you to come with me, but it's dangerous. You'd be safer here. At least we would meet again."_

 _ **Th-** Lilly started, then stopped. She sat silently for a moment. **Then catch me yourself.**_

 _"What! No! You hate the idea of being caught, Lilly. I could never do that to you."_

 ** _Navarone, I'm coming with you. No other options. You're right though, I would get caught by someone else, and we'd never meet again. They could even be mean, or bad._** ** _But I trust you more than anyone. My parents died years ago, so there is no reason for me to stay. If you catch me, I know you'll never hurt me or betray my trust._**

 _"Are you sure about this, Lilly?" Navarone asked nervously._

 _ **Yes, I am. I just ask that you don't leave me in the Pokeball unless necessary.**_

 _"Of course not. I won't put you in there unless your injured, and only so I can get you back to a Center." Navarone said, touched that she trusted him so much._

 _Navarone walked over to his closet and pulled out a box that was covered in a think layer of dust._

 _ **Haven't touched that in a while, have you, Nav?** Lilly asked with a touch of amusement in her voice._

 _"Nope. Never needed it." Navarone said, also amused._

 _He reached into the box and pulled out a Luxury Ball. He then walked over and set it in front of Lilly._

 _"If you don't want to do this, you don't have to. Otherwise, press the button in the middle and let the ball link you to it. There should be a release on the inside for you to get out of it yourself, but if you don't leave in a minute, I'll release you." Navarone explained._

 _ **Okay.** Lilly said, nervousness clear in her voice. She steeled herself and spoke again. **I'm coming with you.**_

 _She quickly reached out and pressed the button on the ball and was enveloped in a bright light before disappearing. The ball shook twice before letting out a beep. After a few seconds, it opened and Lilly came back out._

XXX

"Not long after that, Lilly and Navarone left traveling. They went all over the regions except Alola. They came back a few times, with news and stories each time." James said.

"The second time they came back, Navarone had been contacted by Officer Jenny, who told him that his parents passed away."

"This may seem insensitive, but how'd they die?" Liz asked.

"They were at the Wailing Stones when a Primape snuck up and chargedat them. He ended up throwing them off the edge, but it fell too."

Liz shivered when she remembered that she could have fallen off those cliffs, too.

XXX

 _ **Navarone, what happened? I can't help if you don't tell me what happened.**_

 _All Lilly knew was that Navarone had gotten a call, then broke down crying after it ended. That was fifteen minutes ago and she still hasn't gotten an answer_ _, and she didn't expect one._

 _"They're de...dead, Lilly. M...mom and Dad. A P...primape Th...threw them over the cl...cliff at th_ _e Wailing St...stones." Navarone said, his voice broken intermittently by crying._

 _Lilly felt her heart stop as she heard that, and understood exactly what Navarone was feeling. Janet and Cort were like a family to her, too._

 _She immediately walked over to the teenager and pulled him into her embrace and held him, rubbing his back and whispering soothing words._

 _Eventually, he calmed down and stopped crying and looked up at her._

 _"Thank you, Lilly. You don't know how much that helped." He said, grateful for her help._

 _Lilly leaned down and kissed His forehead. **D** **on't worry. You know I'm always here for you. Always.**_

XXX

"I think that was when they truly fell in love. After returning for his parents funeral, and staying a month and a half, they returned to traveling." James then chuckled.

"Imagine our surprise when a year later, they return and tell us they are together.

They were understandably nervous, but we were all happy for them."

"How did it happen?" Liz asked, curious as to how the man taking care of her fell in love with a Pokemon.

"It didn't happen at once. The development of their feelings were spread out several years."

"But there was one situation that caused her to confess her feelings." James smiled.

XXX

 _Navarone bent over and began coughing,_ hard. _It was a cough that was painful to just listen to. Specks of blood_ _flew out between his lips._

 _ **Navarone! What's wrong?!** Lilly was panicking. They were in the middle of a forest, days from any city_ , _all on their own._

 _Navarone didn't answer. He couldn't. The coughing continued and Lilly grabbed him and start thumping his back._ _When it didn't work, she held him close, fear striking deep in her heart._

 _The coughing continued for several minutes. Eventually, it stopped and Lilly relaxed when Navarone grabbed her hand._

 _ **Navarone, what's wrong?** She asked, fear clear in her voice._

 _When he spoke, his voice was weak and raspy. "I'm sick. Its an infection, I assume."_

 _ **What can I do to help?** Lilly asked, concerned for her friend._

 _Navarone stood up with a pained grunt. "We need to move. To get to a city."_

 _As he stood up, Lilly followed. They stood for a few seconds, before Navarone wobbled, then collapsed. Lilly barely caught him before he hit the ground._

 _She placed him onto the floor of the tent and tried to wake him up. After a couple minutes, she gave up and felt his forehead._

He's sick. Very sick. He fainted when he stood, so movement might be back for him...

I need to take care of him. Make sure he eats and drinks, and keep his temperature cool.

 _That's how the next couple days went. Lilly searched the woods for fruit to feed him, and tore off parts of her dress to use as cloth. She would wet the cloth in a nearby river_ _and drip water into his mouth, or use it to cool his forehead._

 _By noon of the third day she was completely exhausted, but her efforts weren't in vain._

 _Navarone slowly opened his eyes and looked around the tent. His eyes settled in Lilly, with her exhausted look and torn dress. She had leaves and twigs in her leggings, and mud spotted her. She was looking down and crying softly._

 _"Lilly, what's wrong? What happened?" His voice was weak, but better than the raspy sound of three days ago._

 _Her head snapped up at his voice and saw him sitting up, looking at her, concerned._

 _She lunged forward and pulled him into a tight, but not too right, hug._

 _ **You're awake! I was so terrified you'd die and I'd lose you!** Her crying intensified as she released three days of fear and worry._

 _Navarone quickly hugged her back and rubbed her back comfortingly. "What happened? All I remember is coughing and then this."_

 ** _You fainted when you stood up. That was three days ago. I used my dress to soak in water and keep you hydrated and cool, and forged the surrounding forest for berries._**

 _Navarone pulled her face up gently and looked at her with astonishment and gratitude. "You did all of that for_ me _?"_

 ** _Of course I did, Nav. You mean everything to me. If not_** **_for you, I would have died that winter. If not, I would still be sitting in a cave, fearing humans._**

 ** _You changed me, and for the far better. My time with you has been so fun, and I don't want it to stop. I can't stand the though of losing you, Nav. You're everything to me._**

 _Navarone looked at her with astonishment and even a little love. He pulled her chin up so she was looking at him, and slowly leaned in and kissed her._

 _Lilly's mind froze with shock, but quickly overcame it and she pressed back into the kiss._

 _They pulled away and Navarone smiled at the Kirlia in his arms. "I love you, Lilly."_

 _As he spoke these words, Lilly was enveloped in a bright white light, and as if faded, Lilly wasn't a Kirlia anymore._

 _A tall figure sat in front of him. She had a long white dress and light blue hair. Orange eyes peeked out underneath, looking at him with love and joy. An orange gem stuck out her chest and back._

 _ **I love you too, Navarone.**_

XXX

"They kept travelling and their bond strengthened dramatically after that day." James said.

"Did they keep as a secret?" Liz asked.

"They didn't hide it, but they weren't obvious either. They never denied it if confronted. A lot of people didn't like it, but it's not illegal."

"Anyway, one day in Hoenn, they came across an a young Riolu at the edge of a pond."

XXX

 _Navarone woke up to the sound of something searching through the packs outside the tent. He looked around and saw that it was still night time._

 _He looked down and saw Lilly, a Gardevoir, sleeping on his chest. He grabbed her shoulder and gently shook her awake._

 _When she woke up_ , _Navarone placed a finger over her lips and shook his head, then tapped his ear._

 _She knew what he meant,_ stay silent and listen closely _. She did just that and heard the same sound he did, and nodded to him._

 _They both stood up very slowly, and Navarone quietly untied the knot holding the tent flaps shut. They stepped out into the darkness and saw a small figure bent over one of their packs._

 _Navarone looked at Lilly and pointed to the sky,_ light. _She created a bright light, startling the figure which had been revealed to be a Riolu._

 _The Riolu spun around and quickly backed away in fear, but stopped when she felt water on her feet._

 _Navarone looked at Lilly, who nodded, and knelt down. "Its okay. We won't hurt you. I just want to know what you're doing going through our stuff."_

 _"I have translators, so I'll understand you when you speak." Navarone said._

 _"I...I'm so hungry. I haven't eaten in two days." The Riolu, now identified as a female, said softly._

 _Lilly then spoke up. "Aren't your parents taking care of you?"_

 _The Riolu then started to cry. "No. I d...don't know wh...where they are. T...they left a w...week ago and never ca...came back."_

 _Lilly's eyes softened and looked at Navarone. He smiled and nodded. Navarone then went and grabbed a few berries and grapes. He brought them back to Lilly, who took then, and walked back to the tent and sat down in front of it._

 _Li_ _lly then approached the Riolu and spoke very softly."_ _It's okay. Here you go. Eat these."_ _The Pokemon took the offered fruits and ate them._

 _"T...thank you."_

 _Lilly then pulled the young female into a hug. "It's okay. We won't hurt you. I promise. My name is Lilly, and the human's is Navarone. What's yours?"_

 _"G...Grace."_

XXX

"They continued travelling for a few more years. Navarone and Lilly pretty much adopted Grace soon after that, and they became a family." James said, smiling at the memory of when he first met Grace, then frowned.

"A few months after Navarone turned 20, they were traveling through Johto when they were attacked."

XXX

" _Run! Get out of here, I'll distract them!" Shouted a young, female voice, barely heard over the sound of howling._

 _"No I'm not leaving you here, Lilly!" Said a voice, reminiscent of of Navarone's._

 _"You need to get Grace and yourself out of here." Lilly replied._

 _"What about you?"_

 _"I'll be fine."_

 _"Mommy, what's happening? I'm scared." Said a young, trembling voice._

 _"Don't worry, Grace, go back to sleep." Lilly said._

" _Lilly, they are already here." Navarone said._

 _"Oh no..."_

 _Over the hill a hundred meters away, a large pack of Houndoom came running, charging straight at them._

 _Navarone handed the terrified Grace to Lilly, before reaching into his jacket and pulling out a pistol and knife._

 _"Start running, I'll be right begin you." Navarone said, determined to have at least his lover and child survive._

 _Lilly hesitated, but started running while throwing Shadow Balls at the oncoming pack. Most missed, but some didn't. Those that hit didn't do much._

 _Navarone began running as well, but stayed several meters behind them. Be aimed and three loud bangs broke through the sound of howling and snarling._

Bang! Bang! Bang!

 _Three of the canines dropped as Grace screamed from the sound. Navarone continued firing before he ran out of ammo. He pulled out a second knife and caught up to Lilly._

 _"We need to make it to the treeline. If we do, we can quickly lose them." Navarone said and Lilly nodded. They both sped up._

 _Fifty meters away from the forest, the pack caught up with_ _them._

XXX

"The gunfire alerted local authorities, but by the time police and paramedics reached them, Lilly had already bled out. Grace died on the ride to the hospital and Navarone slipped into a coma." James said, saddened by the memory.

"How did he survive?" Liz asked, awed that he survived a Houndoom pack, but saddened that Lilly and Grace died.

"I think that it's because he had three knives on him, and he gave one to Lilly. All I know is that the police said that there were over fifteen Houndoom bodies surrounding them." James answered.

"Anyway, he was in a coma for nearly a year, and after he woke up and came back home, we all had to watch him."

"Why?" Liz asked.

"Because he was constantly trying to commit suicide, but we always stopped him, or he stopped himself." James said.

"Fortunately, nowadays he only gets like that whenever he gets reminded of all this." James said.

When he said that, Liz had a bad feeling overcome her. However, she had learned so much and was so distracted that she didn't know why.

"Alright, Liz. I'm sure you learned plenty to think about. I have get back to my family for dinner." James said.

"Alright. Thank you for telling me this." Liz asked, still distracted.

James left, and Liz continued to think about why she felt something was wrong.

Then she jumped up with a gasp and ran down the hallway. "Navarone!"

As Liz reached the front door, it opened on it's own and revealed Navarone with a small smile on his face, looking no worse for wear.

"You call, Liz?" Navarone asked, humor tinting his voice He then saw Liz's look of concern, and looked behind him to see James walking away.

"So you were told." It wasn't a question.

Liz nodded, before stepping forward and hugging Navarone.

He tensed, then relaxed and hugged her back. "I suppose it was something you needed to know."

She soon released him and stepped back as Navarone spoke. "Come on, let find the young ones and have dinner."

Little did they know, the three Pokemon had been watching and listening since Liz and James sat down on the couch.

XXX

 **A lot of development here. I finally revealed just _who_ Lilly and Grace were. And how will a certain three Pokemon react to the story?**

 **Apologies for the long update, but tests and ideas distracted me. I finished my EOCs, but had an idea for another story in my head. _First Contact_ was posted a few days ago. I'll be updating the two back and forth. Also, longest chapter yet. 6.5K**

 **I doubt this needs to be said, but suicide is never the answer. If you have any suicidal thoughts, please call a suicide hotline. They'll help. Trust me.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 is here, and Happy Holidays to everyone, even though this is a bit late for Christmas, or any other simultaneous holiday. This chapter is really more of a filler chapter. (There'll be a lot of those. This is a slice of life kind of story anyway.)**

 **Also, this story is written in Third Person, mainly focusing on Navarone, however I will show the thoughts of other characters at times, but these will be clearly labeled.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. If I did, it'd be different. Not necessarily better, as that's your opinion, but different.**

XXX

Navarone looked to Liz and said, "Go ahead and go to the dining room. Daron probably finished dinner and set it out already. I'll find the three and bring them to eat."

Liz nodded and walked off, heading towards the dining room. "I'll wait for you."

Navarone turned and walked into the living room, before stopping and looking around. He then started to head up the stairs, but stopped when he heard a quiet whimper.

He listened closely and heard it again, eminating from behind the couch. He turned and walked to it, before looking over it.

The sight he saw made his heart ache. Behind the couch, Melody, Harmony, and Verrin were crouched, hugging each other. Tears were streaming down all of their faces.

Navarone walked behind the couch and crouched, then asked, "Why are you three crying?"

They were startled when he spoke, and looked up. When they saw it was him, their crying was renewed. Verrin darted into his lap and Melody and Harmony hugged him from the sides.

Needless to say, Navarone was confused at their reaction, but felt his blood run cold when Melody answered.

"We he...heard the en...entire s...story. You ha...have been thr...through so m...much." She said, before they all hugged him tighter.

 _Shit. That story really wasn't something they should have heard. At least, not the way James would have told Liz._

"Everything is fine, you three. That all happened a long time ago. Everything is better now." Navarone said, attempting to comfort the three crying Pokemon by hugging them back.

"How is eve...everything better now?" Verrin asked, his speech not as broken as Melody's.

"I may have lost two people important to me, but now I have you three, as well as Liz. You may not be _them_ , but that's okay because you're _you._ I enjoy having you here with me." Navarone said, having to hold back his own tears.

He held them close as they cried their tears. He soon lost track of how long they had been crouched there.

He was startled when he felt another pair of arms wrap around his back. He looked up to see Liz crouched in front of him, hugging them all.

Soon, the three Pokemon stopped crying, and they stood up, before Navarone spoke, "Dinner is ready and set out, go ahead and eat. Liz and I will meet you there."

The Pokemon nodded, before walking off, leaving Liz alone with Navarone.

"Why were they crying?" The Gardevoir asked.

Navarone sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

 _He looks cute when he does that._ A certain Gardevoir thought.

"They overheard the conversation between you and James." Navarone said, straight to the point.

Liz quickly gained a look of shock, and looked back at where the three had walked off to.

"They should've never heard that. Or at least heard a less detailed version." Liz said, a small frown on her face.

"Exactly what I thought."

Navarone paused for a moment, then spoke again, "Come on, we should go eat. Keep their minds of this as well."

Liz looked over at him in time to see a smile appear on his face.

"What's that smile for?" Liz asked out of curiosity.

Navarone chuckled. "I may have had a way to keep them occupied tomorrow."

"Come on, let's go eat." Navarone said, then walked towards the dining room, effectively changing the subject.

XXX

Dinner was a quick and quiet affair, with Navarone and Liz trying to get the others to talk. However, no matter what they asked, they only got a few words in reply.

Soon, it was time for bed, and Navarone gave Verrin a bath, before taking a shower himself. Navarone exited the bathroom, a burst of steam flowing behind him, and smiled when he saw Verrin asleep on his bed.

Navarone felt slightly thirsty, so he walked downstairs to get a cup of water. After entering the kitchen and fixing his drink, he entered the living and was surprised to see Liz sitting on the loveseat, reading a book.

He sat down on the couch and placed the cup on the table next to it, before speaking. "What are you doing up still?"

Liz answered without even looking up, "I could ask you the same thing."

Navarone laughed lightly, keeping his voice down, then said, "Fair enough. I was a bit thirsty, and I like to stay up and read. Sometimes write."

Liz looked up in surprise. "You write? What-" She cut herself off.

Navarone gave her a questioning look, to which she replied, "You hair is shiny."

Navarone laughed again. "Yeah, my hair doesn't like to be dry. After a shower, it'll stay damp for another twenty minutes."

Liz looked down and spoke in a quiet voice. "It looks nice. The color and shine suits you."

Navarone smiled gently and spoke, "Thank you, Liz. I like the shade of your hair as well."

"Really?"

"Yeah, light blue is one of my favorite colors."

Liz glanced up slightly, with a blush on her face, and smiled. "Thank you."

Navarone nodded and changed the topic to save her any more embarrassment. "Back to what you asked before; Yes, I do write. It's nothing major, just little short stories online. I prefer to read than write, though."

"What kind of stories do you write?" Liz asked, all traces of embarrassment long gone.

"Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and I even dabbled into a bit of Romance, but I wasn't to good at that."

"What about you, Liz? What kind of hobbies do you have, or would like to have?" Navarone asked, then took a sip of his water.

"Well, I like to draw, but I don't think I'm any good. That, and Apollo wouldn't let me." Liz answered.

"If you enjoy doing it, and it's your hobby, it doesn't matter if your good or not. However, I think you're better that you think you are. Definitely better than me, as I can only draw stick figures, and even they are terrible." Navarone chuckled at that while Liz giggled.

"Oh? Are you _really_ that bad? It could be like what you just told me, that I might think I'm worse than I really am." Liz asked, a small smile on her face.

"Nah, I really am that bad. I had several second opinions, and took an art class, which I _somehow_ passed. I think the teacher took pity on me." Navarone smiled and laughed again.

Liz smiled as well. "No offense intended, but why are you bad? You seem like a patient man."

"I am rather patient, but I don't have a steady hand, my mind works far to fast, and I can't see all those lines and shading. My 'faces' look like rough sketches done in a few seconds, not something I took several hours to do."

Navarone then stood up and walked over to a piece of furniture that held several drawers in it. He pulled one open and took out a large binder and a small wooden stand.

He then turned around and saw Liz looking at him curiously. He walked over and handed it to her with a smile, before sitting down in his seat.

"Go ahead and open it." Navarone said.

Liz looked down and unzipped it, before opening. She gasped as she saw what was inside.

Inside the binder, it held three compartments. The first held paper with several dividers separating different kinds of papers. The second was revealed by opening a flap. It was filled with markers, pens, crayons, pencils, and color pencils. The third compartment was in the back, opened the same was as the second. Inside it was watercolor, acrylic, oil, and temper paints, as well as several different kinds of paint brushes.

She looked at the wood stand and saw that it was an easel for her to paint on, and that it was adjustable.

She looked at Navarone to see him smiling at her. "In case you don't realize, I'm giving that to you. You'll make _much_ better use of it than I will. I hope you enjoy it."

Liz looked down and smiled, before placing the binder and stand on the table next to her, before standing up. She walked over to Navarone, smiling at his confused expression, and bent down and hugged him.

He tensed slightly, before returning her hug. "I take it that means you like it." He said, humor in his voice.

Liz let go and stepped back. "Thank you. I love it, I really do."

Liz looked back at the topic of conversation. "Are you sure you want to _give_ that to me? It must have been expensive. I'll pay you for it."

Navarone chuckled and shook his head. "With what money? Besides, they are gifts, which implies that I am indeed giving them to you. And don't worry about price. Whether it's expensive or not doesn't matter. You love drawing, I had something used for drawing, it made sense for you to have it."

"Thank you." Liz said softly, before quickly hugging him again, then letting go.

Navarone must've seen the concerned look on her face. "If you're worried about the price, don't be. In case you haven't noticed, I'm rich. Price doesn't matter when it makes my friends happy."

Liz smiled at him again with a small blush on her face.

Navarone yawned, covering his mouth as he did so.

Liz saw this. "I'm sorry. I've kept you up."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I enjoyed talking with you. However, I do think it's time for us to sleep." Navarone said as he stood up.

Liz nodded and walked with him to the stairs, the gifts in her hands. When they reached the second floor, they stopped in front of the door to Liz's room.

"Thank you again, Navarone." Liz said sincerely.

"You've already thanked me. Several times actually." Navarone said with a smile. "You don't need to though, they were gifts."

Liz nodded, then leaned in and kissed Navarone's cheek before darting into her room, a massive blush on her face.

Navarone stood there with a shocked look on his face, before shaking his head and heading up the stairs to his room, with one thought on his mind.

 _What in the world was that about?_

XXX

Navarone woke up early the next morning and felt a muzzle buried in his chest. He opened his eyes and looked down to see Verrin on his chest.

 _Honestly not a bad way to wake up. I could wake up in a far worse situation._

Navarone stayed there and waited for Verrin to wake up. As he waited, his mind drifted to a certain event that had happened the night before, when a certain Gardevoir had kissed his cheek.

 _I'm certainly not blind, but there's no way she has feelings for me, right?_ Navarone then thought about something.

 _On second thought, it's guaranteed she doesn't have any romantic feelings for me. Not this early._ _There's no way she_ _even_ would _develop them, is there? After what happened with Apollo, I figured she would stay a good distance away from humans in_ any _sort of encounter, much less a romantic encounter._

Navarone thought for a moment longer before feeling Verrin start to move. He reached over and put his translators on.

 _I'll go through the day normally and won't say anything. It was probably a spur of the moment thing that she didn't mean. If she brings it up, then we'll talk._ He saw Verrin's eyes open and looked at Navarone with sleepy eyes.

"Good morning, Verrin." Navarone said cheerfully, not hint of his internal debate.

"Good morning, Nav. How can you be so happy this early?" Verrin asked, before burying his face back into Navarone's clothed chest.

"I'm used to waking up early." Navarone replied with a chuckle.

"Now, come on. It is time to get up and eat breakfast. I have something planned for today." Navarone said vaguely.

Verrin's head popped up and looked at Navarone. "What is it?"

Navarone just smiled. "You'll have to wait until after breakfast."

"Really?" Verrin said, disappointed.

Navarone just picked up Verrin and started to walk towards the door.

"Hey! Let me go! I can walk on my own!" Verrin struggled in Navarone's arms.

"Hmm, no. You didn't want to get up, so I get to carry you." Navarone said, smiling.

Verrin pouted at Navarone, hoping it would convince him to let go.

"Cute, but no. I've had much worse used against me. I'm practically immune." Navarone said, smirking.

Verrin grunted and look away, resigning himself to being carried.

They arrived at the dining room to see Liz, Melody, and Harmony already seated at the table, food spread out before them. They looked up and Melody started snickering, along with Harmony. Liz's lips curled into a small smile.

Verrin started struggling again, before Navarone set him down on the floor. Verrin ran to his seat and hopped into it. Navarone walked to his seat and sat down as well.

"He refused to wake up?" Liz asked, still smiling.

"Pretty much. I decided to carry him if he wouldn't get up." Navarone said, then looked at the three young Pokemon.

"Seems Harmony and Melody enjoyed the show. Rather, being able to tease him about it." He had a smile tugging at his lips as he spoke.

Liz nodded, and they began eating. Soon, breakfast was finished and they relocated themselves to the living room.

The moment Navarone sat down, Verrin hopped into his lap.

"So, what are we doing today?" He asked excitedly as Navarone grunted.

"What are you talking about?" Navarone asked, feigning ignorance.

"You said that you had something planned!" Verrin all but shouted.

"Noooo, I don't know what you're talking about." Navarone said, acting confused.

Verrin began to pout, and Liz smiled at Navarone, who winked back.

"Alright, since you're so excited, I'll tell you."

Verrin immediately perked, and so did the other two young ones who had listened to the conversation.

"I was thinking that since it's summer, we could swim in the pool." Navarone said.

"Swimming? But Nav, I'm a fire type." Verrin said, disappointed.

"Yes, but you didn't see that the pool has a main area where the water is somewhat cold, and then it has circular areas connected, which are different temperatures." Navarone explained.

"If that's the case, that'll help your body adjust to the temperature before you go into the main pool." Liz contributed helpfully.

Hearing that caused Verrin to perk up. "That's great! Let's go!"

"Yeah!" Yelled Harmony and Melody in near unison, before all three darted out of the room and towards the back door.

"You think that'll keep them occupied, Liz?" Navarone asked, smirking at her.

"Of course it will. If anything, we won't be able to bring them in." Liz said, then chuckled lightly.

"Come on, let's go join them. Somebody has to make sure they don't get in trouble." Navarone stood up and followed the children's path, albeit at a more leisurely pace.

Outside, the pool was massive. Easily fifty meters long and ten meters wide, it started off at two-thirds of a meter deep, before ending at three meters deep. The deep end held one meter and five meter diving boards.

On the edges of the shallow side were two circular indentions where more water was. These two pools, however, had slightly hot and slightly cold water, in order to help fire and ice types to adjust to the temperature.

Set a couple meters away from the pool were several tables, each with four chairs surrounding them. Not far from them were eight sunbathing chairs.

Even farther away was a small building where all the swimsuits were, as well as several changing rooms.

Verrin dipped his paw in the water, then quickly jerked it back out with a yelp.

"Verrin, you need to go over to that small pool over there. You should stay into it. It'll let your body adjust to the temperature." Navarone explained, pointing at the small pool on the right corner.

"Thanks Nav!" Verrin shouted, before running over to the pool. He dipped his paw into it, then fully sunk into it.

Navarone and Liz moved to one of the tables and sat down across from each other. They watched as Verrin got used to the water and moved to the main pool and began swimming with Harmony and Melody.

Liz looked over at Navarone and saw that he was smiling.

"What?" Liz asked.

"Hmm?" Navarone replied, confused.

"You're smiling."

Navarone nodded in understanding.

"When I was a kid, I'd come back here with my friends and their Pokemon all the time. I just remembered when Josh had started bragging about how good of a diver he was. When he tried, he belly-flopped off the five meter board."

Liz winced slightly. "That's not something to laugh at."

"I suppose if you didn't know him. He had a ridiculously hard stomach. It didn't hurt him at all. It was funny because he proved he couldn't dive, even after all that bragging." Navarone explained.

"In that case, I guess it would be funny." Liz said, smiling gently, then asked another question.

"Where are they? Your childhood friends, that is."

Navarone shifted slightly and frowned. "Ah, well, most of them are travelers, or have settled down in other regions."

"Most?" Liz asked, slightly worried as to the answer.

"A couple didn't agree with my relationship with Lilly. Another didn't like that I saw Pokemon as companions." Navarone explained.

"I really don't have any idea where they are at, and I suppose it's for the best."

They were silent for a moment as Liz tried to figure out some way to change the subject.

"Why don't you go join them?" Liz suggested after a time.

Navarone smiled at that and stood up. "Are you going to join as well, Liz?"

She smiled and shook her head. "I don't have a swim suit. Do you?"

"Yes, I do. As for you, there might a suit that could fit you." Navarone replied.

"How would you have a swimsuit for a Gardevoir?"

"Lilly, remember? We would swim all the time, so there should be a swimsuit you could have."

She was quiet for a moment, but when she spoke, her voice was soft. "How are you talking so easily about this?"

"That night you spoke to James, something happened to me in the woods." Navarone spoke, stopped, then quickly started again when Liz gave him a concerned look.

"Nothing bad, I assure you. It helped though. It honestly did. Remembering her and Grace doesn't hurt me like it used to."

Liz slowly nodded, still concerned for his well-being.

She was startled when he clapped his hands. "Now, let's see about getting you into that swimsuit and then into the water."

They stood up and moved to the building. It was rather simple with wood paneling and a basic wood roof. It held a closet for storage and two rooms, each with several stalls, for people and Pokemon to change.

After Navarone opened the closet door, he turned to see which one Liz wanted. When he saw her, he immediately stopped. She was standing there with a nervous and slightly fearful look on her face.

"Liz, what's wrong?" Navarone asked, concerned for her.

"Apollo...H...He would make me wear those..." She said, stuttering slightly from her memories.

Navarone all but growled at that and spoke forcefully. "Liz, _what did he do to you?"_ He didn't... _force_ me, but he would stare at me, and... he... _touched_ me a few times."

Navarone exhaled a great breath of air, snorted, really, and spoke again. "Liz, with your permission, I should tell Officer Jenny. It would get him in prison for even longer."

"Yes, go ahead. Later, though. I don't want to interrupt Melody, Harmony, and Verrin's fun." Liz calmed.

"That's true."

There was a silence for several minutes as Liz tried to think of a way to change the subject, and to distract Navarone from his ire.

"The swimsuits, Nav?" She asked, eventually.

"Do you still want to swim? These aren't like what he would make you wear. These are fully body suits, so they cover everything."

"Really?" Liz asked, excited now.

"Yep. Lilly didn't like exposing her body that a bikini would cause, so she asked me to buy full-body suits, which I did."

Navarone grabbed a simple blue suit and handed it to Liz. "Change into that. Inside each stall is a little alcove to store your clothes. I'll change as well and meet you here."

As Liz turned to walk away, she heard, "Wait, Liz."

She turned back. "Yeah, Nav?"

He smirked. "First off, you're calling me 'Nav' as well?"

She smiled back. "Yep, it's shorter than your actual name."

He rolled his eyes, them his smile left his face. "Normally, when I swim, I don't wear a shirt. Will that be a problem for you? I'll wear a shirt if I need to."

Liz smiled sweetly at him. "No, it's fine. Thank you for the concern, though."

They both entered their respective rooms and quickly changed in a stall before meeting back outside.

Navarone walked out with a pair of midnight-blue swim trunks and two towels slung over his shoulders. Liz wore a simple light blue swimsuit that covered her entire body, excluding her face, hands, arms, and feet.

They smiled at each other and Navarone handed Liz a towel.

"Come on, let's go join them in the pool."

Liz nodded and started walking, with Navarone right beside her. As they arrived at the pool, Verrin noticed that they were wearing swim suits.

"Nav, Liz! Are you going to swim with us?"

"We sure are, Verrin." Navarone answered, amusement filling his voice.

"Yeah! Come on!" Verrin cheered, very obviously excited.

Navarone looked at Liz and smiled. "Let't not keep them waiting."

He walked over and climbed the three meter diving board, bounced a few times on the edge, and dove into the water, creating a small, but noticeable splash.

He surfaced to see Liz slowly sliding into the pool and smirked at her. "To each their own, I suppose."

She stuck her tounge out at him, making him chuckle. She laughed as well a few seconds later.

He was startled slightly when Verrin jumped onto his back. "Come on, Nav! Let's play!"

XXX

James heard talking coming from the backyard and rounded the corner to see what was going on.

He stopped and smiled at the sight of his employer smiling and laughing with four Pokemon; A Gardevoir, Buneary, Riolu, and Vulpix.

"It's good that he's moving forward. He was so hurt for so long." James said to himself, speaking very quietly.

"You're right."

James spun around and saw Alyss standing behind him.

"I'm surprised you heard."

She smiled at him. "Good hearing."

He nodded.

She walked next to him and watched the five beings for a short moment. "When he first came back, he was so _broken_. I mean, yeah, you know as well, but look how far he's come. It's amazing."

He smirked at her. "You still want to date him?"

She scowled at him. "I got over that crush years ago, James. Don't bring it up."

James nodded. They continued to watch for a few more seconds, then turned and they both returned to their chores.

XXX

 **And there is chapter 6. I honestly put it off for several days. I got Skyrim again for the first time in several years, and am already level 26 and a ridiculously powerful High Elf mage.**

 **Anyway, like I said in the beginning, Happy Holidays to all.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Back again with Broken Heart, Healing Soul. This chapter takes a look at my view of combat, although I can say it isn't between who you're thinking. I'm sorry if some of you don't like how I'm portraying the moves, but remember, this is meant to be life-like, ergo some moves don't exist, don't work like the games, or look different.**

 **Also, I don't know how good I am at describing battles, so if this isn't good, don't hesitate to give constructive critism. However, I feel as if I put more effort into the fight than all else. That might be a new weakness of mine.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, although due to my friend, I am getting more into the games. Now, on with the story!**

XXX

"Thank you, Officer Jalie. You've been a big help." Navarone spoke, standing and shaking the policewoman's hand.

The Estate's living room held three beings. Specifically, a man, a woman, and a Gardevoir.

The man was rather tall, with black hair and bright blue eyes. He was wearing simple blue jeans and and a dark blue shirt. A black watch was on his wrist and a pair of sunglasses stuck out of the pocket on his shirt. His face held a satisfied look, glad that Apollo was getting what he deserved.

The woman, revealed to be Officer Jalie, was, honestly, rather short, and wore a form fitting blue uniform, with a small badge over her heart. A small pistol, a tazer, and a flashlight were attached to her belt. Her hair was somewhat short, down to her neck, and her eyes were green. Her face held a determined look, eager to get Apollo behind bars.

Finally, the Gardevoir, known to be Liz, was sitting on a couch. She was wearing a light blue dress with white highlights, and had blue gloves on. Her bandages were no longer on her, having recovered enough to both not need them, and not need to be careful. She was sitting there, with a complicated set of emotions on her face: nervous, embarrassed, and relieved.

"I'm happy to help. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. It'll help make sure Apollo is in jail for a very long time." She said as they both walked to the front door of the Planctus Lapidem Estate.

"Yes, that will make me feel a lot safer; knowing that he is imprisoned and will never threaten me, Harmony, or Melody again." Liz spoke, her voice obviously relieved.

As the three of them reached the front door, Officer Jalie turned to them and continued speaking. "If anything else comes to light, or if you would like an update on the trial's situation, don't hesitate to call me."

"Don't worry, I will. I'm just as eager as anyone to make sure he gets what he deserves." Navarone held a frown as he spoke.

The two shook hands again, then Jalie shook Liz's hand as well. The policewoman then turned and exited through the front door, entered her police car, and returned to the station, ready to make a report about Apollo's _other_ kind of abuse against Liz.

Navarone turned around and looked at Liz before speaking, his voice soft and concerned. "It'll be okay, Liz. Apollo will be in jail soon, and probably for life. Even if he gets out, he has no idea this place even exists, and I'll make sure he doesn't even get near."

Liz smiled at him, gratefulness shining in her eyes. She stepped forward and lightly embraced him, her face buried in his neck.

Navarone hesitated for a moment, then wrapped his arms around her. Throughout the embrace, he was acutely aware of her hair tickling his neck, her heart beating quickly, and her natural scent, which was reminiscent of honey and flowers.

Soon, she released him and he, her. They stepped away from each other, and Navarone saw Liz had a small smile, as well as a slight blush. One eye was hidden behind her hair.

"Navar-" Liz began, before being interrupted when Verrin came running into the room.

"Nav, Nav! There is an Espeon and Clefable fighting in the back yard, a little ways away from the pool!" The fire canine said, concerned.

Navarone just chuckled. "That would be Lilia and Kytin. They are just having a sparing match. It isn't a real fight. Most likely, Alyss and Austin are watching."

Liz looked over to Navarone, a confused and slightly alarmed look on her face. "You mean their trainers are _making_ them fight?"

Verrin looked up at Navarone as well, also alarmed and worried.

But Navarone just laughed slightly. "No. Lilia's trainer is Alyss, and Kytin's trainer isAustin, and they are like me, that is, they respect Pokemon and don't make them fight."

"Honestly, Lilia and Kytin enjoy dueling. No one gets hurt, but they have fun. It's a way for them to test themselves."

Liz calmed down when she heard that. "So they aren't forced to fight?"

Navarone smiled and shook his head as he spoke. "Not at all. They honestly enjoy it, and we have plenty of medical supplies to make sure that if they do get hurt, they'll recover quickly and easily."

Verrin looked intrigued at the thought of battling. "Can we go watch? Maybe even I can test some of my abilities."

Navarone looked at Verrin, surprised. "Are you sure, Verrin?"

Verrin nodded sharply and smiled. "Yep!"

Navarone looked over to the Gardevoir. "What about you? Would you like a chance to test your powers? It wouldn't be an actual battle, just you hitting some targets."

Liz looked slightly uncomfortable with the idea, but still nodded. "As long as I'm not in real danger, I'll do it."

He smiled at that before walking towards the back door, the two Pokemon following him.

They soon exited into the backyard and walked to an open area not far from the pool.

The field was not very large, maybe twenty meters across and the same length long. It held the forest behind it, and the opposite side faced towards the pool. Scattered throughout it were several trees.

On the side closest to the woods were several targets in various shapes. Liz saw a human, and several Pokemon. They were made out of a strange black material with foam covering it, except the joints, which were exposed.

In the field, toward the left end, an Espeon was sitting on top of a Clefable.

"You submit?" The Espeon, now revealed to be a female, asked, a smirk on her face.

"I do." Said the Clefable, now identified as a male.

The Espeon got off of the other Pokemon and walked over to the edge of the field, her dual tail swaying behind her. This drew Liz and Verrin's attention to the edge of the field, where Alyss and Austin stood. Alyss was grinning and Austin had a disgruntled look on his face.

"So." Alyss began, a smug smile adorning her face. "Do you still think Kytin can beat Lilia?" She finished, rubbing the Espeon's head.

Clefable, now identified as Kytin, walked over to his trainer, then came to a stop next to Austin, a slightly despondent look on his face.

"I have to admit, you're strong." Austin said, looking at the Psychic type. Lilia just smiled back.

Austin then turned to the Clefable and crouched down. "You did good, Kytin. They surprised us with that combo, but we'll do better next time, okay?"

Kytin looked at him and smiled. "You're right. Thank you."

Alyss then spoke up. "As fun as this was, we need to get back to work, right Austin?"

Austin nodded, then turned to the Pokemon. "She's right, we'll meet you later, okay?"

The two Pokemon nodded and walked off in the direction of the houses. Alyss left without noticing their audience, but Austin noticed them and stopped, before smiling.

"Hello, My Lord, come to train?" He said, a smirk on his face.

Liz looked at Navarone to see him shaking his head with a look of amusement on his face.

"Must you insist upon such dreadful honorifics?" Navarone asked, confusing Liz and Verrin with his word choice.

"You _are_ the Lord of the Estate and I but a humble servant. It is only fitting that I address you in such a manner, is it not?"

"Truly, yes, but I would much prefer you to address me in such a way that reflects my unique opinion about my current title." Navarone said, smiling slightly.

"I may at that, however, I must return to my task of the upkeep of the surrounding lands." Austin said, giving a small bow and walking away.

The three were silent for a moment before Liz spoke up. "Navarone. What _was_ that?"

She was surprised when the only answer she received was Navarone laughing.

Navarone soon calmed his laughter and looked over at Liz and nearly laughed again at her bewildered face.

"That was Austin, as I'm sure you remember. When I was a kid, I introduced myself as the 'soon-to-be Lord of the Estate.'"

"Ten years later, now that I am the Lord, he acts like that as a joke. In ancient times, that's how the Lord and a Servant really would interact." Navarone then smiled at her.

"However, I don't really act like that, as I'm sure you've noticed."

Verrin then spoke for the first time since they went outside. "Yep! You are are a lot more fun and enjoyable to be around!"

That causes Navarone to chuckle a bit. "Thank you, Verrin. That makes me happy."

Liz spoke then, and her voice was quiet. "You certainly aren't strict, or self-centered. You've been nicer to me than anyone has in a long time."

Liz smirked at him and continued. "I think you're one of the better humans out there."

Navarone looked at her, surprised at what she said. He gently pulled her into a hug. "That means a lot to me. Thank you."

Liz hugged him back and they stood there for a few seconds, before they were interrupted. "Yay! Group hug!"

A certain fire canine jumped up on his hind legs and hugged them both, causing Liz and Navarone to chuckle and release each other.

Navarone then clapped his hands, startling the two Pokemon. "Now! Let's test some of your moves. No combat, just hitting the targets."

Navarone walked over to the targets, followed by Liz and Verrin, and came to a stop about ten meters from them.

"Alright, now who wants to go first? Liz or Verrin?" Navarone asked, smiling.

Verrin hopped forward, excited at the prospect of testing himself.

"Alright, I believe you know Quick Attack, Feint Attack, Flame Burst, and Flamethrower, correct?" Navarone asked.

"Yup!" Verrin said, obviously excited.

"Alright, you see the human-shaped target? You are going to be using that one. Let's start off with Quick Attack, then cycle through Feint Attack, Flame Burst, and Flamethrower."

"After each attack, come back to where you started before using the next one." Navarone said.

Verrin nodded with a smile on his face. He crouched down, then darted forward at an incredible speed and delivered three rapid-paced slashes on the target before retreating back to the start. This time, he disappeared out of sight completely, before reappearing seconds later and hitting the target powerfully, right in the chest.

He, again, returned to the start. Then, he opened his mouth and a orange light grew, before the a fireball flew out and exploded at the target's feet, burning it from the waist down. He opened his mouth again and the light came back, but this time it flew out in a continuous stream of fire, burning the target completely.

Verrin turned and looked at Navarone. "That's it. How'd I do?"

"Well done, Verrin! An impressive display of strength and control." Navarone said, causing Verrin to smile and look down at his feet.

Navarone then turned to Liz and began to speak, but stopped when he saw how nervous she was. "Liz, you don't have to do this if it makes you nervous."

"It isn't that." Liz mumbled.

"Then what is it?" Navarone asked, barely able to hear her.

"I haven't used any of my abilities since Apollo caught me. I might not be any good." She said.

Navarone walked over to Liz and placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke in a soft and caring voice. "I doubt that is the case, and even if it was, neither me nor Verrin would care if you were a little rusty."

Liz looked up at him, surprised, and he continued. "Even if you weren't as good as you once were, you _live_ here. You can always come out here and train."

Liz smiled at him, gratefulness shining in her eyes. "Thank you, Nav. That's really kind of you."

"Its only the truth." He replied honestly.

Liz smiled and spoke again. "I'm ready to at least give it a try."

"That's the spirit, Liz!" Navarone said, patting her should enthusiatically.

"So, what abilities can you do?" Verrin asked.

She smiled down at him. "I can do quite a few, but I'm especially good at Teleport, Double Team, Hypnosis, Fire Punch, and Shadow Ball."

"Well then, go in front of a target and do the same as Verrin. Use your abilities and return to the start after each one." Navarone said.

Liz nodded and looked at a target, this one an Alakazam.

She was wrapped in a purple energy and vanished, reappearing with a slight noise, similar to a compressed air being released, in front of the target. Her fist was wrapped in fire and she punched the target's arm, breaking it and burning it.

She teleported back to the start. She was wrapped in a purple energy again and soon there were two more copies of her. The left and right one's eyes started glowing purple, and the middle one had a black ball of energy form in front of her right hand, which launched forward and cracked the target's chest. The two copies faded away and she turned to Navarone and was surprised to see him smiling.

"Well done, Liz. I think you underestimated yourself." He said, making her smile.

He gestured to where the copies had been. "I assume those copies were using Hypnosis, and that Shadow Ball at the end was very powerful."

She smiled at him. "Thank you, Navarone. That makes me happy."

"Its only the truth." He replied honestly, again.

The three were startled by clapping, and they turned to see James, Destiny, and Julie behind them.

"That made for a good show, you two." Destiny said, smiling at the two Pokemon.

"Thank you."

"Thanks!"

Liz and Verrin replied, simultaneously, both smiling at the compliment.

James then spoke up, saying something that completely surprised the two Pokemon, and made Navarone sigh.

"Did you know that Navarone used to spar with Pokemon? He, obviously, would ask them to not use their powers to their full strength, and he wouldn't go against, say, an Onyx, but he has sparred with a Flareon, two Glaceons, an Umbreon, an Espeon, a Gardevoir, a Lopunny, and a Lucario. He actually managed to beat most of them."

When James finished speaking, Navarone spoke up. "The Espeon was Lilia, who we just saw, and the Gardevoir was Lilly, so I knew their tactics and patterns well. Even then, all of them restrained their powers to tactical uses, or weak attacks. If, say, the Lucario had used a fully-powered Shadow Ball, I wouldn't have stood a chance."

Navarone paused, then continued. "As it is, I can only beat a Pokemon if it is a mostly melee fight. If they start using their abilities, or have a biological advantage such as being made of steel, I don't stand much of a chance."

"So, if you and I were to spar, and I don't use my abilities, you would win?" Liz asked, smiling slightly.

"Possibly." Navarone amended. "I have no idea how good you are. You could end up kicking my ass."

When he said that, Julie got excited and spoke up. "How about I go get everyone else and you two spar?"

She ran off before anyone could answer, leaving Navarone to sigh and run a hand through his hair.

"I guess we're doing this." Liz said, and Navarone looked over to her and saw her smiling at him.

"You're okay with this?" He asked, incredulous.

"Yep. I know you won't hurt me, so it seems like it may be fun." Liz spoke, excited and slightly nervous.

"Hurt _you_? Don't you mean hurt _me_? That Shadow Ball and Fire Punch looks like it would hurt." Navarone nearly shouted, slightly concerned for his health and well-being.

She looked at him with a slightly amused expression. "You really think I'll hurt you? I won't use any powers that can really hurt you."

He smiled at her, relieved. "Thank you."

Soon after, Julie came out of the back door with Austin, Alyss, Daron, Melody, and Harmony.

The two bipedal Pokemon immediately ran to Liz and Harmony spoke up. "Are you really going to fight Nav? Why? He's been so nice." As she asked this, the person in question was slightly amused.

Liz chuckled slightly and patted them both on the back. "I'm not mad at him. We are having a friendly spar. We're not going to hurt each other. It is just to see who would win."

Melody and Harmony hugged Liz, her arms wrapped around the Gardevoir's waist. "Be careful. I don't want to see you hurt."

She hugged the Buneary and Riolu back. "Don't worry. I won't."

She released both of them and stood up, turning to face Navarone. When she did, she saw him smiling at her. She blushed slightly and smiled back.

She walked over to him and the six workers and was surprised to see that Lilia and Kytin had joined them.

"Make sure you are ready for this. He's not an easy opponent. I learned that the hard way." Lilia said as Kytin chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Liz asked.

"He pinned me between his body and a tree, so I couldn't escape. I had to yield." Lilia said, smacking Kytin with her tail.

"I think you should go discuss the rules, this _is_ a duel of honor, anyway. In case you don't know, it means that cheating will make you lose your honor. Nowadays, that doesn't mean too much, but a couple hundred years ago, it might as well have been a death sentence." Kytin explained.

Liz nodded and turned and moved towards Navarone, who was stretching, but stopped when she saw he was shirtless.

"I forgot to mention; he fights shirtless. Most of his shirts are a size or two larger than him, so they often get in his way."

"He doesn't like tight clothing, so he wears those shirts. However, after one got his arm stuck and cost him a match, he decided not to wear them during spars." Lilia said, smirking at the blush on Liz's face.

Navarone, while not bulky, very obviously took care of his body. He had a slight six-pack, nothing too obvious though. He wasn't overweight at all and his muscled arms showed he worked his arms more than his abdomen, most likely from his sparring.

Liz shook her head and walked over to Navarone, trying to ignore his chest. "You ready for this, Nav?"

He looked over to her and smiled. "I am. I'm rather excited, as well. I haven't sparred in a long while."

He paused and gathered his thoughts. "Now, obviously we don't want to really hurt each other, so I think we need some rules. I'm thinkin-"

Liz cut him off, surprising him with the determination in her voice. "I didn't show this as I'm not good at it, but I can use Recover, so don't you dare hold back."

"Why didn't you use it to heal what Apollo did?" Navarone asked, confused but completely unperturbed at being interrupted.

She smiled sheepishly. "Honestly? I forgot. I've never used it before. Apollo had that thing that prevented me from using my abilities, and afterwards, I was more concerned with keeping Harmony and Melody safe."

Navarone nodded. "I'm not going to complain, it's good to know you can heal yourself now that you remember. Are you sure you don't want me to hold back?"

She smirked at him. "I'm positive. However, you can't heal yourself like I can, so how will my powers be limited?"

"Obviously, Hypnosis, Recover, Teleport, and Double Team are allowed throughout the duel, but Fire Punch and Shadow Ball will have to be weakened significantly. However, your actual hits shouldn't be weakened; I'm sure I can take it."

"I won't use Recover until after the match, but other than that, that's fair. I certainly wouldn't feel good if I accidently killed you. Where would we Pokemon live?" She smiled at him, and Navarone chuckled lightly.

"Winner will be chosen when one is pinned or unable to continue." He hesitated slightly, then continued.

"Are you sure you want me to hit full strength? I hit hard, Liz, and I wouldn't want to break something, even if you can heal yourself."

"I'm positive, Nav. Thanks for the concern." Liz was touched that he was concerned for her well-being.

Navarone nodded, then spoke. "Then that settles it. We'll start on opposite ends of the field, then have Julie whistle. That'll be the signal to start."

Liz nodded, then started walking to one side of the field. Navarone walked over to Julie, who was watching the others and smiling for some reason.

"Julie, we are about to start, I need you to whistle as our signal to begin." He looked at James and saw him holding a twenty.

"Place your bets, I guess. Don't complain if you lose money."

Julie smiled. "I think most are betting on you. Go to your spot and get ready."

"Alright. Don't get too mad if you lose some money. I don't think it's a good idea for you to underestimate her. She demonstrated amazing control of her powers." Navarone explained, amused at the prospect of others betting on his winning, even though he could lose.

Navarone turned and walked to the other end of the field and faced Liz. He crouched lightly and watched her movements, hoping she'll give something away, and waiting for the whistle that would signal the fight.

The field quieted, and Navarone knew that the workers of the Estate would be silent, watching him and Liz. A quick glance told him Verrin was excited, but Melody and Harmony were slightly nervous.

Julie's whistle sounded, shrill and piercing, cutting through the sky. Liz flinched slightly and Navarone used that to his advantage, darting forward towards her. He reached her mere seconds later just as her eyes began to widen.

He lashed out with a fist to Liz's left arm and struck it, moments before she Teleported away with a odd sound, reminisicent of pressurized air being released.

She appeared several feet away and studied him. He smirked at her and started advancing, moving slower this time. When he was within range, she darted to the left and punched at him. He dodged, but didn't see the follow-up and was struck in the shoulder. He backed away, smiling slightly.

"I'm going to be honest; you hit a lot harder than I thought you would. It isn't that painful, but I definitely feel it." Navarone said.

She frowned at him. "You could feel my hit, but I couldn't feel yours. Don't hold back!"

He frowned slightly, but agreed anyway, knowing it was what she wanted. "As you wish."

A couple seconds after he finished speaking, he lunged forward and sweeped Liz's legs out, sending her to the ground. She rolled away, her dress billowing around her, and crouched up just in time to be hit on the shoulder.

She grunted in pain and Teleported away again, making that peculiar sound once more. She appeared again and looked at Navarone and smiled at the concerned look. "I'm fine. Don't hold back. If I can't take it, I'll Recover."

"I doubt I'll need to though." She added, teasing. Her form wavered and suddenly there were two more Lizs, making a total of three. Navarone cursed slightly, knowing that even though the clones weren't physical, Liz could still use her abilities through them.

The clones each had a black ball of energy form in front of their hands, before the two Shadow Balls flew at him. One flew past him as he dodged and the other hit the ground near him. He was relieved when the grass was barely singed. Navarone refocused on the clones and was slightly alarmed to see the original Liz missing. He heard a noise from his side and turned to see a flaming fist hit his chest.

The blow knocked him back and down. His chest was slightly singed and sore, but he knew that it had been weakened severely. He rolled backward and dashed towards the Gardevoir, quickly delivering three quick strikes to her shoulder, arm, and collar bone.

He backed away as she Teleported, reappearing next to the clones who were now transparent. Liz was breathing heavily and Navarone was slightly worn. If the goal was to last longer, Navarone knew he would win, but anything could change in a first-to-yield or incapacitated duel.

Navarone ran forward just as the clones faded away. As he neared, Liz's fist erupted into flames and she disappeared. The moment she vanished, Navarone spun around with his leg extended, delivering a brutal kick to Liz's side, causing her to collapse. When she hit the ground, her fist extinguishing. Immediately, Navarone was on her, pinning her down.

"Do you yield?" Navarone asked quietly, his face next to her ear.

"The question is; do you?" Liz asked, smirking.

While Navarone was confused, she reached her head up and kissed his cheek. As soon as it happened, he felt his energy drain and started to fall asleep.

"Draining Kiss. First time I've ever used it." Liz whispered in his ear.

"Well played." He replied drowsily.

He tried to fight it, but knew it wouldn't work. He felt his eyes trying to close, and surrendered to it. Navarone rolled off of Liz and soon fell asleep. Liz got up and looked at the audience, who were shocked, unable to believe that Liz had won when it seemed she had lost.

Julie recovered first and whistled again. "And Liz is the winner!"

XXX

 **And that was Chapter 7 of Broken Heart, Healing Soul. Now, this was the first chapter that I've written combat, so tell me how I did. All constructive criticism and generic reviews are welcome.**

 **Another thing: I'm looking for a Beta Reader for this story specifically. You don't need to know Pokemon, and I won't hold you to a specific schedule; that's to say, I won't tell you, "I need this done by Friday. Do it." I'll say, "Edit this whenever you have the time, I'm patient."** **I only ask that you be fluent in English, and be good at grammar, spelling, and punctuation. I'm not picky about whether or not you have any stories written or not. If interested, please send me a PM.**

 **Don't hesitate to review how you feel, or even make any suggestions, and thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**And I'm here with Chapter 8, finally. It took alotlonger than I suspected, and for that, I apologize. On other news, I now have a Beta , one user named eaod2000. If you want to thank anyone for this chapter being legible, thank him.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not ownPokemon or anything affiliated with Pokemon. Except the story. And OCs. And plot. And setting. Heh... I do not own Pokemon but do own this story.**

XXX

Navarone woke the next day in his bed. He immediately knew something was off when he noticed that Verrin's weight wasn't resting on his chest or anywhere else on his body. He opened his eyes and looked around and was slightly concerned when he didn't see Verrin anywhere in the room. He looked to his bedside table and was confused when he saw it was a little past noon; 12:17 pm, specifically.

 _I've never slept this long before. Why start now?_

He sat up only to wince in slight discomfort. His shoulder was slightly sore and he was startled to see that his chest had been burned, albeit slightly and it was already treated. He ignored the pain and stood up only to have to steady himself when a wave of drowsiness hit him.

Navarone grunted slightly to himself as he forced himself to stand balanced. Once that was succeeded, he worked on getting dressed. He still had his pants on, as normal, but was missing his shirt, which confused him. He didn't sleep without clothes.

He changed into a pair of jeans more suited for daily wear as well as a black shirt that held a logo for a company he couldn't remember at the time. Navarone was annoyed that he couldn't remember what happened the night before and why he slept to noon shirtless. He headed to the bathroom door and began brushing his teeth.

As he was rinsing out his mouth, his memories of the day before came back to him. He smiled at his reflection as he remembered how he had been beat.

 _Draining Kiss. Smart and effective. It must have taken more out of me than either of us expected. It even made me forget what happened, even though my memories ended up coming back.I have to give her props._

Navarone finished brushing his teeth and replaced his toothbrush and cup and began walking downstairs. As he entered the second floor he noticed a smell of soup and possibly toast. He continued down and as soon as he got to the first floor, Verrin jumped into his arms.

Startled, Navarone almost dropped him, but managed to get his arms around the fire type just in time.

"Nav! You're awake! It took you too long! I was worries it would take longer." The canine spoke incredibly fast, his voice laced with concern and muffled due to the Pokemon's muzzle being buried into his shoulder.

"What do you mean, Verrin? I've only slept a little over a day," Navarone said, befuddled.

Verrin pulled his muzzle back and looked at Navarone, confusion and worry clear on his face. "Nav, what day is it?"

"July 28th," Navarone replied, certain of the date.

When Verrin spoke, it came softly and quietly. "No. Its the 30th. Liz's move put you to sleep for three days. We've all been worried about you and Liz has been beating herself up over it."

Navarone was quiet from both worry and shock. He was worried because Liz apparently was blaming herself for what happened, even though it was her fault, but he wouldn't tell her that. He was shocked by the fact that he had slept three whole days away and that even when weakened, Liz's Draining Kiss was still that strong.

 _Three days. What would have happened if Liz hadn't weakened it that much? Still, I need to find her and make sure she's okay. If she's blaming herself, she probably thinks I'll hate her._

"I'm fine now, Verrin. I'm up and moving. Where is everyone?" Navarone asked, curious.

"Almost everyone is at lunch eating the chicken soup Daron prepared. Liz isn't there, however. I think she's out back, near the field." Verrin answered.

"Go tell everyone that I'm awake. I need to go talk to Liz."

Verrin looked at him and smiled before nodding sharply. He hopped out of Navarone's arms and went into the kitchen to tell everyone of the Lord's return.

Navarone turned and headed towards the back door, preparing himself for whatever he may see, hear, or feel.

He pushed open the back door and exited into his backyard; the familiar sight of his training field, pool, and recreation area greeting him.

A couple meters away from the training field was Liz. She was sitting with her back to a tree, her knees pulled up to her chest. She was looking down, her hair covering her face. As Navarone walked closer, he heard her crying softly to herself causinghisheart to tug painfully.

He walked over to her and sat down, surprised she didn't notice him. "Liz..." He said softly.

She gasped softly and looked up, surprised to see him awake. Her eyes were red and puffy and she had twin tear trails down her face. She emitted a jerking sob and dove onto him, wrapping her arms around him, burying her face into his neck and crying. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, whispering words of comfort.

They stayed there long enough for the sun to noticeably change position, not that Navarone cared. All he cared about was making sure Liz was alright. Even when his stomach growled at him he didn't pay it any mind.

Liz pulled her face away and Navarone shivered slightly when the wind blew on his wet shoulder. He looked at her and smiled slightly, but didn't release her and neither did she release him. She looked down at his shirt, specifically the darker spot from her tears. When she spoke, her voice was hoarse from her crying and he knew it had to be uncomfortable. "I'm sorry about your shirt, Nav. I was just so worried about you and when I saw you, I couldn't hold anything back."

He smiled at her and spoke softly. "Don't worry about my shirt. I can always wash it if I need. No, you really needed to get that out."

Liz smiled uncertainty, then addressed the main topic. "I-I was terrified. I thought you might not wake up. Ithurtknowing that I h-hurt the one that took Melody, Harmony, and me in and m-made sure we were happy. I f-felt like I had betrayed you and any trust you had in me." Her voice shook several times while she was talking.

"Liz, it's okay. I'm not mad or hurt, and you didn't betray my trust. Your Draining Kiss was more powerful than either of us thought. It's not your fault at all. There was no way for you to know that it would put me to sleep for three days."

Liz looked at him, smiling with relief. "Thank you. I needed that. I'm glad you don't hate me."

Navarone laughed lightly, before stopping to explain when he saw the hurt look on Liz's face. "I'm not laughing atyou. I'm laughing at what you said. I don't think I could everhateyou. You're too cute for t-" He stopped and his eyes widened as he realized what he said, then released her, and chuckled nervously.

"You think I'm cute?" Liz asked shyly and looked down with a blush on her face.

Navarone rubbed the back of his neck as he answered. "Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I?"

Liz looked up quickly and caught Navarone's eyes, her magenta ones getting lost in his ice blue ones and visa versa. Liz slowly leaned towards Navarone and he her. There faces were merely an inch or two apart.

 _Wham!_

The back door flew open and slammed against the wall with impressive force. A red blue came streaking out with a blue and a brown blur following closely. The door slamming made Liz and Navarone jump up and away from each other. Liz had a large blush on her face and Navarone looked nervous.

Verrin, the red blur, ran and leaped into Navarone's arms. "Help me, Nav!"

Navarone chuckled and held Verrin up high. "What have you done now, Verrin?"

"I _may or may not_ have said fire types are better than psychic and fighting types." Verrin said innocently.

Melody and Harmony soon arrived and looked at Verrin behind held out of their reach. Navarone looked down at them. "So Verrin said fire types are better than psychic and fighting types, right?"

Melody looked at Navarone and glanced at Verrin quickly. "I'm surprised he didn't lie. Yes, he did say that."

Navarone looked back at Verrin. "That wasn't nice. Apologize."

"But it's true!" Verrin whined. "I can breathe fire; Melody can punch and Harmony can shoot a ball of shadows."

Navarone turned to Liz, who was still blushing, and smirked at her. He crouched down slightly and put Verrin down. "Well, if fire types are better than others, you should have no trouble keeping away from them."

Verrin yelped when Navarone let him go and took off running, followed closely by the Buneary and Riolu. Navarone turned to Liz and opened his mouth to speak, but no sounds came out. They stood in an awkward silence for a time before Liz's stomach growled, causing her blush to resurface.

"Come on, let's go eat. I haven't eaten in three days and you're probably hungry too," Navarone said, chuckling and relieved for the distraction.

Liz nodded, also relieved, and turned to go inside to eat. Navarone called for the three Pokemon, who came running and fell in behind Navarone. They walked towards the door in silence and Navarone held the door for Liz and the young ones before following her inside.

XXX

A week passed quickly by without much note. The Buneary, Riolu, and Vulpix continued to tease each other. Every day, Daron made breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The maids, Julie, Destiny, and Alyss worked from noon to six. The groundskeepers did the same, but eight to noon. Liz continued to train her powers alongside Verrin, but Melody and Harmony expressed no desire to fight, which Navarone respected and never pressured them to do so.

Navarone would spend an hour or two every day typing something and using a calculator. When finally questioned by Liz, he revealed it to be an advanced Chemistry course, something he was interested in when he was in high school, but never actually took.

Navarone ordered a second shed and placed it next to the first and started clearing out the attic, placing boxes into the shed. He mentioned plans to turn the attic into a type of Chemistry lab, meant for him to practice experiments and the like. He installed a sink as well as a chemical shower, and put a acid and base resistant floor covering over the attic.

Throughout the week, neither Liz nor Navarone told anyone what happened that day they almost kissed, and never even mentioned it to each other. They both acted as if it had never happened, but for differing reasons. Liz believed that since Navarone didn't bring it up, that it was a spur-of-the-moment thing and didn't mean it. Navarone believed he had grown too attached to Liz too fast. After all, it had taken years to be attracted to Lilly, but only days for Liz.

Navarone woke up early in the morning, Saturday morning specifically, expecting the morning to start like all others. He also planned to bring the three children to the Wailing Stones, but would have to make sure they stayed away from the cliff edge.

He got out of bed, surprised to see that Verrin had already left, and began his daily routine of changing, relieving himself, brushing his teeth, and combing his hair. He walked downstairs to see Verrin, covered in flour, run out of the kitchen and out the door, quickly followed by Melody and Harmony.

He smiled, amused, and walked into the kitchen to see Daron struggling to clean up a spilled bag of flour. The bag was large, at least twenty pounds, or nine kilograms. All of it was spilled on the floor, and the bag had claw marks as if it was ripped open.

"Daron, what happened?" Navarone asked the struggling chef.

He grunted. "Those three Pokemon tried to help but accidentally ripped the bag open. They got scared and ran off."

Navarone chuckled. "They probably thought they'll get punished. I'll go find them and tell them to come help you clean up. If I can't find them, I'll help you. Wait until one of us get back, okay?"

Daron nodded and stood up. He walked over to the kitchen cart and wheeled it into the dining room. Navarone turned and followed the flour paw prints out the door and into the backyard. Eventually he found the three Pokemon hiding behind the new shed. He approached them and took a loud step, letting them know he was there.

All three looked up and were a little afraid as they saw Navarone approach them. When he got to them, he crouched and all three lowered their eyes and their ears flopped down. "Don't worry. I'm not mad and neither is Daron. You're not in trouble," he said reassuringly.

"We're not?" Melody asked hopefully.

"Nope. We both understand it was an accident. All I ask is that you go help him clean it up," he explained.

"Okay!" Verrin said, relieved he wasn't in trouble. He ran, followed by Melody and Harmony, to the house and the kitchen.

That was thought to himself as he stood up. He turned around and was startled to see Liz standing behind him. "Hello, Liz. You surprised me. I thought you would be eating breakfast."

"I was, but saw you follow after the three little ones. I was curious. I must say, you handled that very well," she said, smiling lightly.

"Well, it was an accident so they really weren't in trouble; I just told them the truth. Once they knew they weren't in trouble, it was simple enough to ask them to help clean up the mess," Navarone explained.

"I think you would be a very good father, Nav," Liz complimented.

A sad mood fell over Navarone as she said that, making Liz wonder what she did wrong. She understood, however, once Navarone spoke. "It didn't help Grace. I couldn't save her."

Liz gasped slightly and walked closer to Navarone and grabbed his shoulders. "You are not to blame for what happened that day. It was a large pack of Houndoom; you did the best you could. No one can blame you." When she was finished, she pulled him into a tight embrace.

 _If I did the best I could, then why did they still die? Was it just their time?_ Navarone thought, but didn't voice his opinions and returned Liz's hug.

He released Liz after a moment and spoke again. "Come on, let's finish breakfast. I'm planning on bringing Verrin, Melody, and Harmony to the Wailing Stones today."

Navarone saw Liz tense up quickly beforeshe asked a question in a shaky voice. "You'll keep them away from the edge, right?"

"Of course. I asked Austin and James to build a small rail on the edge. They finished yesterday. We had one before, but it rotted away." After Navarone finished speaking, he saw Liz relax and smile at him.

"Good. When I went there, I was scared one of them would be blown off the edge. You put my concerns to rest. Thank you." Navarone smiled and nodded as she finished speaking.

They turned and went back into the manor. They walked past the kitchen and was glad to see that the mess had been cleaned up. When they entered the dining room, he saw that all three Pokemon were waiting for them.

They sat down and had a quick breakfast of bacon, eggs, pancakes, and waffles. Afterwards, Navarone placed the used dishes in the dishwasher and started it. He walked into the living room where Liz had already explained where they were going to the children.

As soon as he entered the room, Verrin jumped at him and Navarone barely caught the fire type in time. "Are we really going to the Stones, Nav?" He nearly shouted out of excitement. Melody and Harmony were excited as well, but not shouting.

"That's right, Verrin. I am. Are you ready?" Navarone asked, amused at Verrin's reaction.

"Yep!"

"Yes."

"Definitely."

All three replied in their own way, each giving an affirmative. Navarone nodded. "Then come on."

Navarone led them out the house and into the woods with Liz right beside him. They followed the path through the woods in silence for a while, simply listening to the sound of nature. Verrin was the first to break the silence. "Nav, how close are we to the Stones?"

He smiled at the fire type and answered. "Not too much farther. We should hear them soon enough." At that, Verrin, Melody, and Harmony all perked their ears as they listened for the sounds of natural music.

"Navarone, how were the Wailing Stones made?" Liz asked suddenly, curious.

"The winds from the air above the forest hits the cliff side and gets forced upwards. When it reaches the top, it speeds up and changes direction, hitting directly onto the Stones. This slowly eroded them, creating pockets and holes which make sound when the wind blows through. The erosion process took about 150 years, and soon enough, the sounds will be gone," Navarone explained.

"What do you mean?" Melody asked.

Navarone smiled down at the Buneary. "Every year, the sounds get a little different as the Stones get eroded a little more. In another twenty years or so, the sounds will be gone."

"Aww, I don't won't the sounds to stop," Melody whined.

Liz, not Navarone answered this time. "That's why we should enjoy them as much as we can while we have them; we never know when what we love might end up gone."

Melody smiled and hugged Liz, who stopped and hugged her back. They separated and all five of them continued walking. Liz looked at Navarone to ask a question and saw him looking at her with a thoughtful look on his face. She blushed slightly and smiled at him, which he returned.

He opened his mouth to speak when Verrin interrupted with a shout. "I can hear them!"

Everyone stopped and listened closely, even Navarone as the sounds never got old to him. The sounds echoed over the forest in a beautiful, albeit, haunting musical symphony. It raised and lowered in pitch constantly, sometimes high, sometimes low. Harmony shivered.

"It sounds kinda creepy. Cool, but creepy," the Riolu said.

"I don't know. I like it," Melody replied, her eyes closed and enjoying the music. Liz, as well, seemed to enjoy the sounds as she was acting similar to Melody.

"Come on," Navarone spoke at length. "We aren't even there yet. It gets a little louder, but not too loud."

They all started walking forward again, but Harmony stuck close to Navarone, her blue fur nearly rubbing against his leg. He looked down at her and smiled softly. He looked at Liz. "Liz, take Melody and Verrin ahead, I want to talk to Harmony a bit."

The Gardevoir smiled in reply and forged ahead as Harmony and Navarone stopped. He turned to her. "Is the music creeping you out?"

She turned to him nervously. "Yeah. It sounds stupid, I know, but it's making me nervous."

The music hit a low, loud note and Harmony shivered, solidifying her point.

"There's nothing stupid about it, Harmony. I didn't like the music at first either. Maybe seeing it will help you; it helped me." Harmony looked up at him curiously, so he explained. "The music creeped me out too, but once I saw the Stones, I calmed down. It proved that the music was just wind. Now, come on. Let's catch up with the others."

Navarone reached down and picked Harmony up, who squealed in surprised. He set the Riolu in his shoulders and held her legs. He started jogging down the path and Harmony giggled at the wind.

As they neared the others, he slowed down to a walk and she leaned down and hugged the side of his head. "Thank you, Navarone. That talk helped me a lot."

Navarone looked up to see Liz standing at the edge of the clearing and smiling at him. He smiled back and waved, making her blush.

 _Heh, she blushes a lot. It is really cute though._

"Come on, Harmony. Liz and the other are waiting." He grabbed her legs and stood back up and walked the final distance to the Wailing Stones. Throughout the run, the sound was still there but the rushing wind as he ran drowned out the sound. He felt Harmony shiver above him. He patted one of her legs and felt her stop shivering.

He reached Liz and crouched down and put the Riolu back on the ground. He stood back up and looked at Harmony. "Go look around, but stay away from the edge of the cliff. Remember what I said."

Harmony smiled and nodded and ran off as Liz looked at him and asked, "I said the same thing to Verrin and Melody. Although, what was that talk?"

"Harmony was a little creeped out by the music, so I had a little talk with her. Afterwards, I ran here with her on my shoulders," Navarone answered.

Liz smiled at that. "That was really kind of you to comfort her, you know."

Navarone walked towards the Stones and Liz followed close behind. They ended up side-by-side as they watched the three young ones enjoy the music. Harmony seemed to have gotten over her nervousness and now enjoyed the sounds just as much as the others. None of them were looking at the two adults.

"I only did what was right. It wouldn't have been right to tell her to suck it up." Liz smiled at his reply and placed her head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her. As he did, he remembered the internal debate he had earlier.

XXX

" _That's why we should enjoy them as much as we can while we have them; we never know when what we love might end up gone," Liz had said._

 _That had hurt slightly. It reminded Navarone of Lilly and Grave, but he didn't mention it. She didn't mean to bring back those memories, she was simply trying to calm the little one._

 _It made Navarone think about Liz. He would be lying of he said he wasn't attracted to her. He was; that day when they almost kissed was enough to convince him that she felt the same. He was worried, though. Part of him believed that it was too fast; they had known each other a little over a week, after all. Another part of him believed that he would be betraying Lilly by 'replacing' her with Liz. The last part of him didn't care; that he cared, maybe even loved, the Gardevoir._

 _He thought and even argued with himself about what to do._

It is too early. You've known each other a little over a week; it took years to fall for Lilly, _one part said._

You were with Lilly, a Gardevoir, for years. Liz, also a Gardevoir, comes along and steals your heart. You're replacing her; betraying her, _the second part replied._

Time is inconsequential. Love is uncontrollable. If you feel you could be happy with her, you should confess your true feelings, _the last part argued._

 _He walked in silence mainly, eventually coming to a conclusion. Lilly would want him happy, even if it involved finding love again. Time meant nothing, and he already had evidence she felt the same, so he wasn't nervous. He decided he would tell her his feelings when they got to the Wailing Stones._

XXX

"-ne!" Navarone heard as he snapped out of his thoughts. He looked to his right to see Liz looking at him, worried for his health. His arm was wrapped around her waist. He didn't let go.

"Sorry, Liz. I was lost in my thoughts. I ended up zoning out," Navarone explained.

"Okay. I was worried when you just stared for almost ten minutes. What were you thinking about?" Liz asked curiously.

Now, Navarone isn't a shy kind of guy. He does get embarrassed, but only rarely. In this situation, he already knows that Liz likes him, so he wasn't nervous at all; no, he was rather blunt and to-the-point. "You."

Liz's cheeks lit up in a massive, and rather adorable, blush. She hid her face behind her hair. "W-what do you mean?"

"What you said earlier; about enjoying what you love before it's gone. It got me thinking about you and how much I enjoy having you here," Navarone said, enjoying imagining theblush on Liz's face, sad that he couldn't see it anymore.

Liz looked out at him from behind her hair, a nervous look on her face and hope in her eyes, further cementing what Navarone already believed.

"You've been such a delight. It is always fun speaking to you, and I enjoy having you around," Navarone stated.

"W-what are you getting at?" Liz asked, desperately hoping he'll say what she wants him to say.

He smiled at her, a smile full of tender affection, and spoke. "What I'm saying is that I care for you. I don't know if it's love; it might be too early for that, but Idocare for you greatly." He paused and enjoyed the look of happiness on Liz's face, then asked his question.

"Liz, will you be my girlfriend?"

She smiled brightly and hugged Navarone tightly. She then pulled back and looked at him before leaning in and kissed him. It wasn't a forceful or passionate kiss, but it was full of tender affection and care. Eventually, they pulled away from each other with a need to breathe.

Liz placed her forehead against Navarone's and stared into his eyes. "I would absolutely love to."

They moved to kiss again but were interrupted by a shout. "Yay! Liz and Navarone are together now!" They heard Melody shout.

They both looked over and saw all three Pokemon smiling at them. Navarone looked over at Liz and wrapped his arm around her again. "Yeah. We're together now." Liz placed her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, enjoying his proximity.

XXX

 **So, how'd you enjoy Chapter 8? Finally got to the romance part of this story. This chapter was a bit longer than than last couple, but I was looking forward to this for a while. I honestly thought about ending the chapter at "interrupted by a shout" and make someone think that one of the children fell off the cliff. I wasn't that evil though.**

 **My thanks to eaod 2000 for beta-reading this chapter and catching my mistakes.** **Don't hesitate to review, I enjoy reading what you think, even if it is a simple comment.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Now, this chapter is late, or at least later than I would have preferred. The reason why is two-fold. One reason is that I lost access to internet for a while, delaying me from updating even though this chapter was finished about four days ago. The second is what prevented me from finishing it sooner: I got really caught up in a massive book on this site called _Flame of Life_.**

 **Its another Pokemon fan fiction written by an author called Krimson Kane. I normally am not the type to advertise stories, but this deserves special recognition. He has put a massive amount of detail in each chapter, most likely resulting from the fact that he has published work.**

 **However, the story is a bit on the long side. Its at 560K words at the time of this update, but if longer stories are what you prefer, give it a look and read a few chapters. Enough rambling, on with the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Simple. I'm probably going to stop putting these. Its been established that I do not own the franchise.**

XXX

Navarone awoke the next more a little sore, but completely content. He opened his eyes and was greeted by his black roof and beige walls, as well as a splash of red in his peripherals. He turned his head slowly and saw Verrin, a young Vulpix, sleeping curled up against his side.

Navarone smiled and let own a yawn with his mouth closed, a trick he had mastered years ago. He slowly escaped the bed without waking or even shifting the fire canine. He made his way into the bathroom and changed from his night clothes, consisting of shorts and a t-shirt, into blue jeans and a dark blue shirt with a runic symbol in the center. He contemplated throwing a jacket on, but decided against it with it being the end of summer.

He turned and walked out, feeling his legs twinge as he did. On the way back from the Wailing Stones, Navarone's confession and Liz's subsequent acceptance invigorated everyone, especially the three little ones. This ended up making the three decided to race back.

Navarone didn't want them out of sight, so ran behind them. Liz did as well for a time, but ended up giving Navarone a quick kiss on the cheek and teleported to the house. Navarone, while not really out of shape, wasn't used to running for a solid twenty minutes and was slightly sore.

He quit reminiscing and walked down the stairs and past the second floor and onto the first. He walked into the living room and stopped when he saw Liz, who was reading _The Hobbit_ , having gotten interested in it. He smiled slightly as she looked up at him. He walked over and gave her a quick kiss.

"Good morning, Liz." Navarone said, his voice full of happiness.

She smiled at him as well. "Good morning, Nav. You're in a good mood." She spoke softly, keeping her voice down. Guessing why, he did as well.

"I have every reason to be, now that we are together. Are the little ones sleeping still? I know Verrin is."

Liz nodded and returned to her book with Navarone sitting next to her after grabbing _Eragon_. She leaned against him and they both read in silence for a while, the only sounds being Daron cooking breakfast and pages being flipped.

After Navarone had made in nearly three hundred pages in, albeit being only roughly an hour due to his fast reading speed, he began to hear noises from upstairs. He believed it to be the three little ones waking up and was proven correct moments later when Melody and Harmony came down, followed shortly by Verrin.

Melody and Verrin both yawned as Harmony came and hopped into Navarone's lap. Navarone had noticed that after comforting her in the woods, she had grown closer to him and that made him happy. Part of him was also scared; scared that since he had the same 'family'- a Gardevoir and Riolu, that it would end the same way.

Consciously, he knew it was ridiculously unlikely for such a thing to happen again, but deep down he was afraid. That fear led him to plan to buy a small pistol just in case. He planned to head to Viridian that very day.

He hugged Harmony and smiled when the other two little ones came and joined the hug. His smile brightened when be felt Liz lean over and join the hug as well. After a few moments, they all pulled away and Navarone greeted them. "Good morning Harmony, Melody, and Verrin. Did you sleep well?"

All three nodded and Verrin spoke up. "Yeah, but it was odd waking up with you gone. Usually, I either wake up first, or you're still there."

Navarone chuckled slightly. "Yeah, but I woke up early. I came down here and read and enjoyed Liz's company."

As he spoke, he noticed a light blush overcome Liz's pale face. It was adorable and made him lean over and kiss her cheek, which only increased her blush. Melody let out a quiet _aww_ at the sight, which only made Navarone smile at how cute she was.

He straightened up and made to speak, but was interrupted as he heard Melody's stomach growl along with Harmony's, making it their turn to blush. He laughed lightly and stood up, grabbing Harmony so she wouldn't fall and carried her. "Come on, the sounds of cooking stopped a while ago; Daron is probably done with breakfast."

Harmony smiled and hugged his neck as Melody and Verrin ran into the kitchen with Liz and Navarone following at a more leisurely pace. They arrived in the kitchen to see the Vulpix and Buneary already in the midst of eating pancakes, eggs, and bacon.

Rather, Verrin was eating eggs and bacon while Melody was eating pancakes and eggs. The pancakes, of course, had syrup and butter. Navarone began walking to his normal spot at the head of the table and stopped when he saw a second chair right next to his. He smiled when he realized Daron had put it there for Liz.

He pointed it out to her and she smiled and blushed lightly, before they both walked over. As Navarone near the corner, he let Harmony down and she sat in the chair to his right, then he and Liz took their places at the head of the table. Liz used her psychic powers to make a plate for all three of them. She then distributed the plates.

When Liz handed a plate to Navarone, he smiled and kissed her lightly, then spoke. "I would have been fine making my own plate, but thank you, Liz."

Liz smiled at him and replied. "I know, but I wanted to be nice, and you're welcome."

They ate in silence, simply enjoying each other's company and Daron's cooking. They quickly cleared their plates of the breakfast food and retired to the living room. He sat down on the love seat and Liz sat next to him. Verrin curled up on the couch with Melody and Harmony on each side of him.

Navarone grabbed the television remote and searched for a show the little ones may like. He eventually came upon a very old movie. He paused it for a moment as he turned to the children. "How do you feel about television violence?"

Harmony shrugged and the other two replied.

"It doesn't bother me." Verrin replied.

"As long as it isn't too realistic." Melody said.

Navarone smiled as Liz looked at him curiously. "Good. This is an old movie. Very old. However, it's a classic and I grew up watching the series. The original creator made six movies before selling the franchise. The new company made two more."

He resumed the movie and smiled as the familiar soundtrack played and saw the yellow writing scroll over the screen. He could tell they were all reading it. Then the end of the introduction came and they saw the title.

"Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace?" Liz asked, looking at Navarone, who nodded and replied.

"It isn't the original movie; it was remade a few years ago to make it look better. Everything, including the title sequence, was remade for better graphics. This is set far in the future, and has no Pokemon."

"How far into the future, and why no Pokemon?"

"The creator, Lucas, never really specified either. Not only is it in the future, it is also very far away. He also never explained why he didn't put Pokemon, but he did have aliens in it."

Liz nodded and they all stayed silent and watched the movie. Melody and Verrin seemed interested, but Liz and Harmony were paying rapt attention. They loved it.

XXX

Three hours later, the movie ended. They all loved it and where happy when Navarone said they'd watch the next episode the next day. Melody, Verrin, and Harmony went outside and played. Liz was sitting on the couch, reading The Hobbit, and Navarone was upstairs.

He was putting on his black jacket and was planning to go buy a gun. He didn't believe he would ever need it, but knew it would bring him peace of mind. He slipped on his shoes and walked downstairs. He saw Julie dusting a table and stopped near her. "Julie, I'm going to town for a while and Liz might come with me. Will you and Destiny watch the children until we are back?"

Julie smiled up at him, her eyes bright and smile cheerful. "I would love too, and I'm sure Destiny would enjoy it."

"Thank you. I won't take too long. I'll be back before it's time for you to leave."

Julie waved it off with her smile ever present. "Don't rush yourself. I will enjoy watching them, and that's worth a few more hours here. Besides, you treat me and everyone else fairly."

Navarone smiled at her and continued downstairs. When he entered the living room, he saw Liz on the couch. She looked up at him and closed her book and stood up. She crossed the room and met him halfway. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to Alex's Arms and Armor. Its a weapon and armor shop in Viridian. Want to come with me?"

Liz thought got a moment. "Who will watch the little ones and why do you need a weapon?"

Navarone replied after deciding how to phrase his second answer. "Julie agreed to watch them and I'm sure Destiny will help her. As for why I want a weapon, it's so I can make sure history doesn't repeat itself.

Liz understood immediately and embraced him, her head on his chest. He returned the hug and they stood there for a moment before releasing each other. She leaned foward and kissed Navarone lightly. When they separated, he smiled at her, his ice-blue eyes shining gratefully.

"Nothing will ever take me or Harmony or Melody or Verrin away from you, Nav. I'm training every day to get stronger and you're stronger than before. History will never repeat itself." Liz spoke calmly, reassuring Navarone.

"Thank you, Liz. You always know exactly what to say to calm me." She simply smiled in reply.

She reached and grasped his hand and interlocked their fingers; slightly odd because Navarone had two more than Liz. They headed out the door and Navarone led the way to the same car they used get here. They both got in the front seats with Navarone driving, of course.

Navarone followed the driveway and onto the main road. They turned towards Viridian and arrived after a time. They passed by various shops, restaurants, and homes, most of which were familiar to Navarone. They passed by the Pokecenter and Navarone turned left. Before long, they arrived at a store set between a liquor store and gun range.

"Alcohol and guns- not a very good combination." Liz commented.

Navarone chuckled lightly. "Not really. Fortunately, buying a gun requires a major background check unless you're not a first time customer."

As they got out, he saw Liz giving him a confused look. He knew what she meant and answered. "When you buy a gun for the first time, you must undergo a background check and a couple tests. It takes about a week. The owner knows me personally, so he'll just check if I have a criminal record, which I don't, before selling me the gun."

Liz nodded and turned her attention to the store itself. It was rather plain with brick walls and white trim. The signread _Alex's Arms and Armor_ in black, bold letters. The building had one door and a window on each side. The windows, however, were barred to prevent thieves from breaking the glass and stealing a gun.

They walked inside and the opening door made a bell ring. A man behind the counter turned aroundand saw them and gawked. The man was tall, only a inch or two shorter than Navarone. He had brown hair that was shaved short. He was wearing black pants and a camouflage shirt. His eyes were hidden by black shades.

"Hello, Alex. Its been a while, hasn't it?" Navarone greeted with a smirk.

"Y-yeah. A couple years, actually. I didn't realize you're back in Viridian."

Navarone nodded. "I've been back for a couple of weeks. I returned because Oak contacted me. He had a few Pokemon that needed someone to take care of them."

Alex nodded in understanding. "I assume she is one of them." He said, gesturing at Liz.

Navarone nodded and looked over at Liz, who had been silent the entire encounter. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, making her blush. Navarone leaned and kissed her on her cheek, deepening her blush. He looked up and Alex's face, which was shocked.

Then, Alex broke into a smile. "So you found someone? Congratulations, then."

Navarone smiled as well. "Yes, this is Liz. At my house is a Riolu named Harmony, a Buneary named Melody, and a Vulpix named Verrin. Melody and Harmony were the other two."

Alex looked at Navarone, a little surprised. "A Gardevoir and Riolu?"

Navarone nodded with a somber look. "Yeah. That's why I'm here. History is repeating itself partly, and I refuse to allow it to completely repeat."

Alex nodded. "So what do you need?"

"A revolver. One that will allow me to protect the ones Iove." He said with a glance at Liz.

Alex nodded and though for a second. "I think you'll like this." He turned and looked for the gun while continuing to talk. "Its relatively knew, coming out last year. Its called a Menigan Special."

Navarone was slightly amused at the name. "What makes it special?"

Alex was understanding and smiled back as he set a revolver on the counter and answered. "It can fire a bunch of different bullets. M-38, M-APR, M-45, and M-IR."

The revolver itself looked rather generic, but was an all black color. It, like most revolvers, had a cylinder capable of holding six bullets. The handle had a simple grip and they words 'Menigan Special' were written along the barrel. The holster was simple, unadorned leather, able to be attached to his belt.

"Menigan- functionality over decoration." Alex finished.

While Navarone nodded in understanding, impressed, Liz was completely befuddled. "What do the different names mean?"

It was Navarone that answered. "The M denotes that it was Menagin that made them. 45 and 38 are the bullet sizes, but APR and IR are acronyms. APR means Armor Penetrating Round and IR is Incendiary Round."

Liz made an _oh_ of understanding and went silent, completely out of her element. Navarone nodded to Alex and spoke. "How much will it cost me?"

Alex replied. "Normally, it would be 750 poké, but as a multi-time customer, you have a 15% discount on a purchases, lowering it to 588 poké."

Navarone nodded as Liz looked at him slightly worried. "Multi-time customer?"

"When Rocket was an actual threat, I bought a couple pistols for each of my workers' families to protect themself. It ended up being twelve guns and over three hundred rounds. The only gun I have used was the one used to kill the Houndoom."

Liz nodded, relieved that Navarone hadn't had a history of shooting people with guns. She listened as he asked. "How much for sixty rounds of APR?"

Alex grabbed a couple green cases out of a cabinet behind him. "It's 35 poké for a case of twenty bullets. That ends up 105 poké, which the discount brings down to 89. The total would be 744 poké including the fire arm and sales taxes."

Navarone nodded. "Not a bad price. I'll buy it."

Alex nodded as Navarone pulled out seven 100 poké bills and a 50 as well. He handed them to Alex while telling him to keep the change. He took it and reached under the counter and grabbed six bullets and handed them to Navarone, then spoke while gesturing at a door.

"Normally, I'd ask for an ID and a carry license, but I know you have both. Take these bullets to the firing range and try them out. The kick is identical to a APR round so don't worry about differences." Navarone nodded in reply.

He grabbed the holster and attached it to his belt. He then holstered the revolver and grabbed the cases and slipped them into his jacket pocket. He walked into the firing range with Liz right behind him.

The firing range was very simple in design. It had five lanes, each with a bulls-eye target at the end. The walls were white with a black floor and roof. He grabbed two sets of sound-dampening earphones and looked at Liz. After seeing that the spikes on the side of her face would prevent her from wearing them, he set the pair back. "Maybe you should go ahead and wait in the shop. The gun can get rather loud, and I don't want to hurt your ears."

Liz was slightly confused. "If you ever need to shoot it to save us, I'm won't exactly have time to find a set and wear it. Why not just deal with it now?"

"Two reasons, Liz. One- we aren't in a life-or-death situation, so there's no reason to risk your hearing. Two- we are inside. While the walls will prevent the sound from escaping, that only means that it echoes inside here." Navarone patiently explained.

"Then I'll just create a physic barrier around me. If I use it to block vibrations, not even sound will get in."

Navarone thought for a moment, then nodded his head. "Yeah, that'll work. Alright then, do that if you truly want to stay and watch."

Liz nodded her head once. "I'm pretty interested in seeing your aim."

Navarone nodded and put on the earmuffs and proceeded to load the bullets into the Special. He loaded the rounds at a decent speed, neither rushing nor leisurely. He then closed the cylinder and looked back at Liz. She nodded and her gem lit up with a purple glow and surrounded her in an aura. He called out and raised an eyebrow, and she replied with a nod.

He aimed down the sights toward the target and quickly unloaded all six shots, his arm jerking only slightly from the kick. He opened the cylinder and lowered the gun before setting it on the counter. He removed the ear protection and nodded at Liz, who dropped the barrier.

"Liz, would you mind retrieving the target?" Navarone asked politely.

"Of course not." Liz said and pulled the target over to them with her abilities. She set it on the counter and they both looked at the damage he had caused. The shots were tightly grouped with them located in the inner ring, with two hitting the bulls-eye.

Navarone nodded in satisfaction. "I won't win any marksmanship awards, but I'll hit my target at least."

"I think you did good, Nav." She said, smiling slightly at him.

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Thank you, Liz."

He then grabbed the revolver and closed the cylinder and placed it in his holster. He patted it slightly and spoke to Liz. "I don't think I'll have to worry about us being attacked, but if we are, at least I'm prepared."

XXX

 **That's Chapter 9. Now, first of all, the Menigan Special is not a real revolver. M-45 and M-38 are both larger than .45 and .38, with M-45 being larger. APR and IR are not the real names, but do exist.**

 **Also, not much really happened this chapter. It was really nothing more than slice-of-life. Expect a lot of these.** **Finally, leave a review if you have anything to say.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 of _Broken Heart, Healing Soul_ is now here. This is late, yes, and mainly because I've been distracted a lot recently as well as simply putting it off. **

**I would like you to read the "News" section of my profile page. It contains information about this story that may upset some readers.**

 **Also, can someone clarify the government of Kanto as well as the presence of armed forces? I've done research, but can't find a straight answer.**

 **Now, enough about me.**

XXX

Navarone woke up with a grunt and a wheeze. He jerked up and opened his eyes to see Verrin bouncing on his chest. Fortunately, the Fire Canine was fairly light and did not risk breaking or bruising a rib.

"Verrin! Ugh, stop!" Navarone exclaimed, albeit not too loudly, and sat up fully, knocking Verrin off him. "What's gotten into you?"

"You promised we would watch episode two today! Everyone is downstairs and waiting!" Verrin yipped, excited to continue the series.

"Alright, alright, let me get up and do my morning routine and I'll come start it." Verrin nodded excitedly at Navarone statement and raced out the room. The man could hear his little claws clicking as he ran down the hallway and down the stairs.

Navarone quickly moved through his morning routine in an effort to appease the waiting Pokemon. He briskly walked downstairs and saw his girlfriend and the three little ones all the couch. He sat down next to Liz and switched the television on. She leaned against him and placed a hand on his arm while he started the movie. He looked over at Liz and delivered a quick kiss, to which she blushed, and looked at the others. They were all focused as the title screen rolled and he knew they would enjoy this one as much as the last.

He wrapped an arm around Liz's waist and spoke. "Daron should have breakfast done after the movie, so we'll eat then."

Liz simply nodded in reply with her attention focused solely on the movie.

Partway through the second movie, Daron came and told Navarone that breakfast was ready. Navarone simply replied, "Thank you, Daron. Liz and I can easily serve it after the movie. Go ahead and spend time with your family."

XXX

Three hours later, the movie was over. Verrin, Melody, and Harmony began discussing the events of the movie while Liz had noticed something. She turned to Navarone and asked, "The movie was just about the same length as the last one. Are they all the same?"

Navarone smiled slightly. "Yeah, the original six movies were all roughly three hours long. The two that came after, _Rouge One_ and _The Force Awakens_ , are differing lengths."

Liz nodded in understanding and simply smiled at the three young Pokemon enthusiastically discussing the events. Navarone, too, was happy that they enjoyed one of his childhood favorites. He checked the schedule and saw that episode three didn't come on until the afternoon of the next day. He made a mental note to remember it.

Navarone turned to Liz and spoke. "What do you say we go eat the breakfast Daron made us?"

Liz smiled, then blushed as her stomach rumbled slightly at the thought of food. Navarone, in response, chuckled lightly. "I'll take that as a yes."

Navarone stood up with Liz following suit and turned to the three Pokemon and said, "Come on, breakfast is ready and I'm sure everyone is hungry."

Verrin hopped off and spoke. "You have that right, Nav. I'm really hungry."

Melody and Harmony followed suit with Harmony uttering a quiet. "I'm a little peckish."

Navarone smiled at followed the three into the kitchen. Inside, the homemade breakfast had already been set onto the table, but they couldn't tell what was cooked as it was all covered. They took their seats as Liz and Navarone uncovered the food and they began to eat the meal of omelets and salad. Truthfully, an odd breakfast, but good nonetheless.

They ate quickly as they were all hungry, especially Verrin, and soon breakfast was over. Navarone and Liz quickly loaded the dishwasher as Verrin, Melody, and Harmony ran outside.

Liz and Navarone exited the kitchen and Liz turned to him and spoke. "I'm going to go outside and train a little. I plan on using Double Team to create some opponents. Are you coming?"

As she asked that, Navarone's phone began to ring and he pulled it out. He checked the caller ID and gained a curious look when he saw it was PokeTech Industries. He muted it and looked at Liz. "I'll answer this first and see what they want. I'll come out afterward, okay?"

Liz smiled and nodded as she leaned upward and gave him a slight kiss. "See you in a few, Nav."

He smiled at her as she turned and walked out, then glanced down at the phone in his hand. They had hung up so he simply called back. He pressed the redial button and held it up to his ear. It rang for a few moments before it was picked up.

"Ah! Navarone, you called back, good." He heard a feminine voice say from the other end.

"Hello, Morgan. Is there something you needed?" Navarone asked the head of the Research and Development team at PTI.

"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't have called. I hope I didn't interrupt anything." She said, first sarcastically, then apologetically.

"Nothing too important. Just talking to someone. What'd you need?"

"We here at PokeTech Industries and expanded our horizons by expanding beyond simple Pokeballs and Pokemon health-related devices. The CEO has asked us to develop combat-oriented devices that can be used to help protect Pokemon from people or vice versa. We've recently completed one such device and have been wondering if you would like to test it with your Gardevoir, Liz, I believe?"

Navarone thought for a moment, then replied. "I'll have to see how she feels about it, but before we agree or not, I'd like to know what the device is and does."

Morgan explained patiently. "The device is called a kinetic energy barrier. Most assume it is a barrier that protects against kinetic energy, but its actually a barrier of kinetic energy. It is supposedly able to stop any directly physic attack, such as Psybeam, Psyshock, as well as others such as Hyperbeam and Psyhic."

Navarone was a little concerned by the wording she used. "Supposedly?"

"We theorize that it can prevent any psychic attack from getting through, no matter the strength. We'd like you and your Gardevoir to come and test it. Naturally, it's completely optional and you'll be paid as well."

"Okay, I'll discuss it with Liz and call you back, whether my answer is yes or no."

"Very well. Have a good day, Mr. Navarone."

She hung up and he placed the phone back in his pocket and went outside to speak to Liz.

 _I wonder what made the CEO decide to start making combat gear._

XXX

 **Yes, the chapter is short. The shortest chapter at 1,232 words. Check out my profile page. You'll likely understand why after reading the news. I'll see y'all next chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello, readers... That sounded like an alien. "Greeting, Earthlings." Anyway, I'm back. I've written another chapter for you. Also, the future chapters will be rather sporadic. I've got several stories in the making, none abandoned or canceled.**

 **I apologize for putting this story on hold. I'm the kind of guy to not plan my stories. I've tried, but can't stick to it. So, I plan the major plot, then write and things develop as I go. Did you know Verrin wasn't supposed to exist?**

XXX

Navarone, having just got out of a call with Morgan, head of Research and Development at PokeTech Industries, walked outside to speak to Liz, his Gardevoir and girlfriend. He exited the back door to see several clones of her arrayed in a line, and she was attacking them.

It wasn't, however, as easy as 'hit a stationary target.' Each one was dodging at the last second, making it impossible to know where they'd dodge. Liz was still doing good. She had hit two out of five of them, making them disperse. The Psychic Pokemon was using Shadow Ball, as well as Teleporting to her target and using either Fire, Thunder, or Ice Punch. For a Psychic, she was rather physical.

"Liz! After you've finished, I need to discuss something with you." Navarone called out.

Liz looked back, momentarily pausing her training. She nodded with a rather curious face. Continuing, she took out one with a Thunder and Ice Punch combo. The next, she defeated by launching two Shadow Balls, one where it was, and one where it moved to. The final one, she dispersed with a simple Fire Punch, right after Teleporting behind it.

She Teleported over to Navarone, only to immediately blush as he clapped. "Well done, Liz. I like how you predicted one clone's movement with the Shadow Ball. Impressive."

He stepped forward and kissed her lightly, deepening her blush and making him smile at how cute he found her when she blushed. Liz took a second to calm her face, and asked, "What did you want to talk about?"

"The CEO of PokeTech Industries has created a type of Kinetic Energy Barrier. Supposedly, it will block any and all Psychic attacks, no matter the strength. They want us to go test it to see if it will actually withstand Psychic attacks."

"And by 'us test it,' they meant, 'me hit it?'" Liz asked rhetorically.

"Exactly." Navarone said with a slight smile. "I see it as a chance for Harmony, Melody, and Verrin to bond more, with Destiny watching over them. We get to go test new technology, and we'll be paid well, as well as spend a little time together."

Then, he gave a small smirk. "And, it let's you show off those new abilities you've been working on."

Liz was silent for a moment as she thought the proposal over, then nodded. "Alright. Let's do it. When do we leave?"

Navarone smiled. "I have to make sure Destiny and Alyss are able to watch the little ones, call Morgan back and give her our answer, and set up a date to do it."

Liz seemed a bit embarrassed at the fact that it involved a bit more that she originally believed.

XXX

Liz sat in the passenger's seat of Navarone's back car as they drove toward the PTI Company Building. It was two days after they had been asked to come. Yesterday had been spent making sure Destiny and Alyss could watch Melody, Harmony, and Verrin as well as setting a date for this.

Liz looked at Navarone out the corner of her eye. She opened her mouth and immediately Navarone spoke with a smirk. "No matter how many times you ask, I won't tell you what the surprise is. That's why it's a surprise."

Liz pouted as she looked out the window. She had been trying to convince him to reveal the surprise throughout the better part of the ride. Thinking back, she was just happy he didn't get annoyed.

She was startled when she felt a hand rest on hers and looked over at Navarone to see him smiling kindly. "I can guarantee you'll like it. It'll be fun."

"I just want to know what it is..." Liz mumbled.

Navarone gave an exaggerated, long-suffering sigh, ruined by his smile. "You really want to know? Its a dinner-date. Just me and you at a restaurant. I already made reservations for a table."

With a massive blush, she smiled happily and kissed Navarone's cheek. "That sounds wonderful. Thank you. It also explains why you dressed up."

With a grin, Navarone replied. "Yep. I'm glad I didn't need to convince you to wear a dress. I definitely wouldn't have been able to make it a surprise then."

With a sheepish smile, she looked down at the white dress she wore. It was rather plain, but also her favorite. Navarone certainly liked it, shown by his compliment earlier that morning.

They continued on, one in a silence born of patience and contentment, the other in a silence born of curiosity satisfied. Soon enough, they arrived. The company building was roughly six stories high. It had an iconic logo of Pokeball above the doors. The walls were white, with a small garden and fountain in the front. Nothing too special, yet nice.

Navarone and Liz got out to be met with Morgan standing at the front door. When they approached, she shook their hands, Navarone first, then Liz. "Welcome to PokeTech Industries. If you follow me, we can get started."

With a small nod, Navarone and Liz followed the employee. They arrived in a rather large room. In it were several researchers next to a computer terminal. In the center of the room, there was a shimmering wall. It wasn't obvious, nor easy to see. It was more like a far-off mirage in the desert, or like the shimmer caused by heat on a paved road.

Morgan stopped and turned to Liz and spoke while gesturing to the 'wall.' "That is the Kinetic Energy Barrier. Whenever you're ready, begin. Use only Psychic type moves. Keep going until you've tried them all, or it breaks."

When Liz nodded, Morgan stepped back and joined the researchers. With a glance to Navarone, who returned a reassuring nod, she began with a simple Magical Leaf. The leaves faded into being with a small shimmer and flew at the barrier. Most were shattered, and those that didn't simply bounced away. With a small murmur, the group began recording data.

Next, she tried Psybeam. It was a new ability she had learned from Lilia. With a slight whine, a beam of purple energy tore through the air, impacting the barrier. With a crackle, the beam faded, showing the barrier still in place.

With a deep breath, she prepared a beam of pure psychic energy and put as much power as she was comfortable with into it. A loud scream sounded out from the beam as it tore the barrier apart, traveling on and impacting the wall, leaving a large scorch mark.

The entire room was silent for several long seconds as the researchers and even Navarone stared at the wall in shock. Liz, however, was too tired to care. Her knees buckled, and she almost fell.

With a tired sigh, she leaned against Navarone, who had come to her side almost immediately. As he held her, he whisper encouragements. "You did amazing, Liz. The Psybeam was great, and that Energy Beam had an unreal amount of power behind it."

She gave him a tired, yet grateful smile to him and kissed him lightly. The researchers finally snapped out of their shock and a low, yet excited murmur came from the group. Morgan approached the Pokemon and Trainer with a small smile.

"Thank you for coming today. Its helped a lot. We now know that the barrier has a limit, which might have costed a life in the field."

She then turned to Liz, specifically. "Also, you might be interested in knowing that before the barrier broke, our instruments recorded fifteen Psy-Un from your Energy Beam. Since it still had the strength to burn the ceramic wall, as well as the fact you aren't unconscious, it's estimated you have about twenty Psy-Un."

With a smile and farewell, Morgan left and Navarone helped the tired Liz back to the car. Once in, Navarone looked at Liz with a not-so-small sense of awe. "Twenty units, Liz. I knew you were strong, but not that strong."

When Liz faced him with a confused look, he realized she didn't know what Psy-Uns were. "A Psy-Un, or Psychic Unit, is how powerful a Pokemon's Psychic powers are. You were rated at twenty PUs, where the normal Gardevoir is twelve. That's amazing."

With a proud smile, Liz spoke. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have tried so hard. That smile made me want to prove to you that I was strong."

"I've always known you were strong, Liz. Only someone strong could do what you did." Navarone said softly, referring to how she took care of Melody and Harmony, even when being abused by Apollo.

With a loud growl and intense blush from Liz, the somber moment was over as Navarone grinned. "Seems like you're ready for that dinner."

Liz blushed a little and smiled sheepishly, then her smile turned to a nervous frown. "W-will they be okay with us?"

Navarone glanced at her, focusing on the road. "What do you mean, beloved?"

Liz blushed at the name, then answered. "A P-Pokemon and human couple. Will it cause anyone there be against it."

Navarone smiled at that. "The restaurant was specifically created for Pokemon and human couples. Everyone there will be like us. Its a requirement to make a reservation."

Liz, no longer worried, smiled brightly at the thought of an entire restaurant dedicated to couples like them. "What is it called?"

"Angela's."

Liz looked a bit confused at the name. She looked at Navarone to see him smile. "There's a story behind it, if you want to hear it."

When he saw Liz nod, he continued. "The owner, John, is in a relationship with an Espeon, named Angela. They tried to go to a restaurant in town, only to be kicked out because she wasn't a human. Instead of getting angry, he started his own restaurant for people like him. To make no mistake about it, he named it after her."

"That's a wonderful story." Liz replied, smiling at John's show of love.

"It is. It shows you how far people have come. Just a few years ago, this kind of stuff was illegal. Now there's a restaurant dedicated to it."

Navarone stopped the car and Liz refocused outside, noticing they had arrived. The restaurant was simple, yet nice. It had dark, wooden walls with a light roof that was shingled. The windows showed a view of the inside, and the main theme was red and white. They went in through the front door and immediately the smell of various foods suffused the air.

They approached a lady standing at a podium in front of the door and she smiled them, then welcomed them cheerfully. "Welcome to Angela's. Do you have a reservation?"

"We do, under Navarone."

She glanced down, then looked back up. "Right this way. I'll show you to your table, and a waiter will be with you shortly to take your order."

"Thank you."

She walked off and Navarone and Liz took their seats, he pulling hers out. The table was right next to a window. They picked up the menus. After a moment, Liz set hers down, having decided on a simple salad. She took the opportunity to look around and smiled at the sight that greeted her.

Situated in several tables across the room were Pokemon/Human couples. She saw a Lopunny, a Froslass, an Alakazam, and even a Flygon.

She looked back at Navarone to see him place his menu down. Within moments, a waitress approached them. She had a tag which read "Allison." She spoke up as she stopped at the edge of the table. "Have you decided what you'll be having?"

They both nodded and Navarone gestured to Liz to let her order first, which she did. "I'll take the Caesar salad."

"And to drink?" Allison asked.

"Just water, please."

The waitress nodded and turned to Navarone after having written it down. "And you, sir?"

"Today's special with iced tea, please."

She wrote it down and smiled at them. "I'll be right back with your orders and drinks."

She walked into the kitchen to deliver the order. After a moment, Liz spoke up. "T-thank you."

Navarone looked at her, pulling his gaze away from the night life outside.

"For what?"

"For taking care of us. You had no reason to take me, Melody, and Harmony back to your house and care for us. You could have just l-left us at the PokeCenter."

"I couldn't have done that. You three needed help, and I was able to provide. Any person with any form of kindness would have done the same."

"But you're not just any person, are you? You're my b-boyfriend." She stuttered lightly with a blush as she said that. "If you hadn't, I never would have met you, and I'd be alone. I don't want to be alone any more."

Navarone reached over and grasped Liz's hand, her three fingers interlocking with his five. "With me around, you'll never be alone again."

He leaned forward and lightly kissed her cheek, making her blush and smile. She glanced around, hoping no one saw, then calmed when she remember where she was.

"I l-love you, Nav." Liz said, feeling a warmth in her chest.

"I love you, too, Liz." Navarone replied readily, smiling as he felt the same.

XXX

Navarone exited the car and held open Liz's door, closing it behind her. They had just gotten home after their dinner and it was late at night, nearly midnight.

They entered the Planctus Lapidem Estate to, unsurprisingly, learn that everyone was asleep. They both went upstairs and stopped at the door to Liz's room. Navarone turned to look at Liz just as she spoke up.

"I really enjoyed tonight. Thank you."

Navarone smiled softly and kissed her, which Liz happily returned. When they broke apart, he spoke. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I did as well. You're more than welcome, and I thank you for making me so happy."

With a small blush, Liz entered her room and Navarone went to his. Surprisingly, Verrin wasn't in the room, making Navarone wonder where the fire canine was sleeping. With a contemplative look, Navarone took a shower, changing into softer clothes.

He lied down in bed and switched off his lamp and readied for sleep. Just as he felt himself slipping away, his door opened. Due to the time, no light entered so he didn't know who it was. It wasn't until he felt the head on his chest that he realized who it was.

"Why?" Navarone asked the welcome intruder, not at all upset, but rather surprised.

"Verrin's in my bed. Either Destiny or Alyss put him there, not realized it was my room."

"Now don't get me wrong, you're certainly welcome here, but why didn't you take the spare room?" Navarone asked, doing what he could to keep his drowsiness from affecting him.

"M-maybe I wanted to s-sleep in the arms of the man I love." Liz replied. Even though he couldn't see her, he knew she was blushing.

With a chuckle, he wrapped an arm around her, then spoke. "In that case, I hope you'll forgive me for saying that I'm glad you decided to sleep with me."

"You're forgiven." The Gardevoir said with slight amusement. "Good night, Nav."

"Good night, Liz."

XXX

 **And now Navarone and Liz has taken another step in their relationship. Its also been revealed that Liz is a sight bit more powerful than I previously hinted at. (Yes, sight was the word I meant. Its a phrase.) I wonder what that'll mean for the future?**

 **I wonder how many people have guess where this is going? Also, some of you might be disappointed with a rather short chapter. For that, I am sorry. I wanted to have the 'return' chapter a filler one showing a little bit of their feelings.**

 **Until next time, with my thanks for bearing with me.**


	12. Chapter 12

Navarone awoke slowly. At first, he didn't notice anything different. A quiet room, soft breathing from two separate sets of lungs, and the usual weight on his chest. Then he noticed what was wrong.

The breathing couldn't have been Verrin. The weight couldn't have been his canine body. The weight was too large and two separate spots. The breathing was too loud and deep for the fire type's lung capacity.

Navarone decided to open his eyes. His ice blue eyes peered out at the world, particularly his room. However his field of view was blocked by a mass of blue hair situated on his chest. It was Liz.

He felt his eyes widen as he realized he had slept with her the night before, but was relieved that nothing more had happened. Far be it for him to want to rush their relationship. He shifted slightly. His new position afforded him a different view.

He saw that his love's head nestled comfortably under his chin and her arm was across his chest possessively, making him smile. He felt no need to wake her so he simply lied back and felt Liz shift to return to under his chin. He wrapped his arm around her and rested his hand on her side, content to simply wait for her to wake up naturally.

 _Unless we already overslept._ He thought.

Glancing at the clock, he was relieved to find it still far too early for the other Pokemon to be awake. He closed his eyes to enjoy being close to the one he loves.

After a few minutes, he felt Liz start to shift and he rightly guessed she was walking up. He reached over to his nightstand and put on his translators. After a moment, she moved her head to look at Navarone, assuming he was still sleeping. She was surprised to find his bright blue eyes looking at her with a soft smile below them.

Navarone leaned down and gave Liz a soft kiss on her lips. "Good morning, Liz."

The Gardevoir smiled at the affection shown and replied in kind. "Good morning, Nav." She said after they parted again.

She noticed that her arm was splayed across him and his right arm was trapped under her. "Did I keep you here after you woke up? I'm sorry."

Navarone chuckled slightly. "I don't consider it so much as _stuck_ as I do relaxing next to my beloved."

Liz blushed slightly at his words before laughing lightly. "Such a charmer."

Navarone kissed her lightly. "What can I say? You bring out the best in me."

Liz sighed happily and rested her head back on Navarone's chest. Navarone wrapped his arms around her again. Both of them were silent for a moment before Liz spoke up quietly. "I love you, Nav."

Navarone smiled at that, feeling a warmth develop. "I love you too, Liz. You don't know how happy you make me."

Liz tightened her group on him and replied. "I have an idea."

"Oh?"

Liz raised her head and looked Navarone in the eyes. "Just as happy as you make me."

With a loving smile, Navarone lightly kissed Liz. They remained in each other's embrace for a moment longer before Navarone spoke up. "We should probably get up. The others will be waking up soon and breakfast will be ready."

Liz knew that he was right but she felt no desire to leave his warmth. Eventually, she sat up, freeing his arm and allowing him to sit up too. They both stood up and Navarone was the first to speak. "I'll meet you downstairs. I need to change clothes."

Liz blushed at the thought of Navarone changing and nodded. Then she stepped forward and hugged him, to which he gladly returned. When they pulled away, he winced and held his right arm.

Liz, concerned for his well being, asked worried. "What's wrong?"

Navarone shook his head. "I'm fine. My mind may be awake, but my arm isn't. It's just pins and needles."

Liz nodded, understanding that it wasn't anything she could help with. Only time would solve that. She did, however, regret trapping his arm. "I'm sorry for sleeping on your arm."

Navarone grinned at her and chuckled. "Nah, it's fine. This just happens sometimes."

Liz nodded and left, giving Navarone his privacy to change, which he did. He exited his room in a pair of blue jeans and a black shirt. He walked downstairs only to see Liz and Daron watching the news with a worried expression.

 _"-criminal_ _organization calling themselves 'The Liberation' made an appearance last week when they kidnapped seven trainers and their Pokemon from a Pokecenter in Viridian City. The trainers and their teams are still missing. The police are still investigating the organization and what they want as well as the location of the missing people."_

 _"In other news,-"_ Daron switched the television off and returned to the kitchen, giving Navarone a worried look. Liz stared at the television for a moment more before he approached her.

"Will they be a threat to us?" Liz asked him when he neared.

"No, they have no reason to. We'll be fine." But Navarone spoke hesitantly and sounded worried. Liz looked over at him, noticing it.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing, just concerned."

Liz was about to speak but stopped when Verrin walked down the stairs with Melody and Harmony close behind. "Good morning, Nav!"

Liz noticed how he wiped all trace of worry from his face and greeted the fire canine with a smile on his face. "Morning. Did you sleep well?"

Verrin nodded his head. "Of course! Sorry for taking your spot though, Liz. I hope it didn't cause any problems."

Liz shook her head with a smile and glanced at Navarone. "Actually, if it's okay with Nav, you could sleep there from now on."

Navarone looked at her, confused, but then smiled when he realized what she was asking. "It's okay with me. I have no problem with it."

All three young Pokemon cheered and Verrin ran up to him and hugged him lightly. "Thanks, Nav!"

The three young ones ran into another part of the house and Navarone turned to face Liz with a grin. "Was that just an act of kindness or was there an ulterior motive?"

The Gardevoir blushed brightly and spoke. "W-well, I was h-hoping you wo-would let me s-sl-"

Navarone didn't let her finish. He stepped foward and embraced her, giving her a gentle kiss "Of course you can sleep with me from now on. I love you, why would I have a problem with it?"

Liz smiled and embraced her love. "Thank you."

"Now, would you go find the little ones and bring them to the kitchen? Daron will be done with breakfast soon and I need to make a call."

Liz nodded and followed the Pokemon's path, toward the back door. She went out into the yard and looked around. She quickly found the three Pokemon at the target area. She approached and saw Verrin practicing against the wooden opponents. Melody and Verrin were watching and cheering him on.

Liz had arrived just in time to see the fire canine hit the target with a rather long-winded Flamethrower. She approached them and clapped. "Well done, Verrin."

Verrin and the two Biped Pokemon turned around and saw her. "Hey, Liz!" Verrin shouted.

She smiled smiled and spoke. "Navarone asked me to come get you. Breakfast will be ready soon."

"Okay!" Verrin ran off but Melody and Harmony lagged behind. Liz noticed this and asked them, "What's on your minds?"

They looked at her and blushed lightly. Melody seemed to take a deep breath and approached her. "Liz, you always took care of us when we were hurt by Apollo. You made sure we would have something to eat, even if you didn't. You kept him away from us even when it got you hurt."

Melody paused, seemingly attempting to gather her courage and thoughts. While she did, Liz spoke. "And I don't regret any of it. I would do it all again to make sure you stay safe and happy."

"And that's why I love you," Melody looked up from the ground and smiled bashfully at Liz, "M-mom."

Liz felt a warmth in her chest at being called 'mom' by the little Pokemon. She was still shocked speechless though. "W-what?"

Melody blushed. "I-I always feel safe around you like I did with my parents before Apollo took me away. I see you like a mother. Is that okay?"

Liz pulled the Buneary into a hug. "Of course that's okay, Melody. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think of you like my daugher. And that goes for you too, Harmony."

Liz pulled the Riolu into the hug as well and stayed kneeled there, hugging them both. She heard the Riolu sniffle and start to cry. Liz started to wishper comfortingly to the distressed canine. "It's okay, Harmony. I'm here and I always will be."

"A-after I lost my parents to a group of Luxray, and got captured by Apollo, I thought I'd never have a c-chance at a good family again. But then I met you and you b-became like my mother, and we got t-taken in by Nav and I thought I had found a f-family again."

"Wait, what do you think of Nav?" Liz asked, pulling away slightly to look them in the eyes.

Melody blushed and Harmony looked down. After a moment, the blue-furred Pokemon look up at Liz. "He's like my dad."

Liz smiled as Melody nodded. "I'm sure he would be very happy with that. You should tell him."

Melody and Harmony smiled. Liz released them both and stood up. "Come on. I'm sure breakfast is ready."

Liz turned to head back inside but stopped when she heard her name. "Liz?"

The Gardevoir turned around to see Melody looking at her. "Yes?"

"C-can I call you 'mom'?"

Liz smiled warmly at her. "Of course you can. It makes me really happy."

Melody smiled and Harmony spoke up. "Come on, Mel', let's go tell Nav he's our dad!"

Melody smiled and they both took off running, heading to the back door. Liz smiled as she imagined Navarone's face when they called him 'dad.'

XXX

Navarone hung up and slipped his phone back into pocket. He looked around worriedly and rubbed his face in exasperation. He had just ended his second call. The first wasn't bad, but the second really bothered him.

The up-and-coming criminal organization calling themselves 'The Liberation' had broke into the Viridian City Prison and escaped with several criminals, one of which was Apollo. He didn't want to worry her, but knew he needed to tell Liz.

He turned abrubtly to go find her only to be interrupted by two balls of fluff impacting his legs and nearly knocking him down. He stumbled back then caught his balance. He looked down to see Melody and Harmony rubbing their heads.

Navarone looked on partially in amusement and partially in concern. He crouched down. "Are you two okay?"

Harmony stopped rubbing her head and looked at him. "Yep! Just wasn't expecting that." She said, a toothy grin on her face.

Melody nodded with a small smile. "Sorry for running into you, Dad."

Navarone replied with a smile. "It's partially my fault. I turned around really fast so you wouldn't have had time to- _wait, what!?_ "

Melody giggled musically and Harmony smiled at him. "I called you 'dad.'"

Navarone stuttered, having competely lost his composure. "W-what?"

Harmony stepped forward, hugging him and burying her muzzle into his shoulder. "You've taken care of me and Melody and made sure we were happy, healthy, and well-fed. You treated us like your own. We realized we saw you as more of a father than a caretaker."

"I'm honored that you'd think of me like that, but out of curiosity, what brought this on?"

"We just told Liz that she was like a mom to us, and asked if we could call her that. After being here and having you play with us, it made us realize how much we cared for you." It surprisingly wasn't Harmony that answered, but rather Melody.

They all were silent for a moment before Harmony spoke up. "I-is it okay if we called you 'dad?'

Navarone smiled at them warmly and brought them both into a close embrace. "Of course you can. I'd be honored for you to consider me a father figure. If you consider me your dad, what about Liz?"

Melody smiled brightly, a smile Harmony mimicked, and they said in unison. "She's our mom, of course!"

Navarone smiled and felt his heart stir, the idea of being a father with Liz to three children making him unbelievable happy. "I love you two." Navarone said, bringing the two children close.

They embraced him back, replying in kind. "And we love you, Dad."

After a moment, Navarone felt a hand rubbing his back. He looked up and saw Liz standing beside him, a hand on his back.

XXX

Navarone pulled into the driveway of the Planctus Lapidem Estate. He had just returned from running some errands in Viridian.

Two days had passed since Melody and Harmony revealed the true depths of their affection for him. Knowing just how much they cared for him made him very happy, and he made sure to show it by spending plenty of time with the two little ones, often having Verrin join them.

Every night, he and Liz had slept together in his room on the third floor. It brought the two of them closer and made Navarone glad he slept fully-clothed.

Unfortunately, Liz did not react calmly when he delivered the news that Apollo had been broken out of jail and was possibly now working for The Liberation. She was scared that he would come for her, but after several minutes, Navarone reassured her that Apollo didn't know that Liz was with Navarone, and he didn't even know who Navarone was or where he lived.

The Liberation had also hit two more Pokecenters and targeted both Pokemon and Trainers. Kanto's law enforcement had no trail to follow and not even the slightest idea of where they operated from.

The Liberation's increased activity led to two things. Navarone began openly carrying his revolver on him nearly all the time. He also made sure Melody and Harmony were able to defend themselves.

At first, they were against the idea of learning to fight, but Navarone made sure they understood it wasn't to battle, but to defend themselves and the ones they love. Melody was a little slow picking up her moves effectively, but Harmony showed herself to be a natural, likely having something to do with her species.

Navarone exited the car and entered the front door of his home. Passing the living room, he saw no one, but was unconcerned. He went upstairs to his, and now Liz's as well, room. He pushed open the door after knocking once.

The first thing he saw was Liz sitting in front of the easel he had given her shortly after she first arrived. On it was a rather well-done landscape painting of a sun setting over a mountain with a forest in the foreground. Several Pokemon dotted the skies of the painting, each a different species.

He approached the focusing Gardevoir and stood slightly to her side, admiring her painting. After a moment, Liz put her brush next to her paint, which Navarone noticed was watercolor. She looked up at him with a smile. "How do you like it?"

Navarone smiled and spoke. "It's very well done. The colors are blended well to the point individual colors and brush strokes are invisible and the setting is rather scenic."

Liz looked at Navarone in confusion. "I thought you didn't know about art?'

Navarone chuckled. "I never got the practical application, ergo, painting or drawing. I understood the theoretical well enough. I know what a good painting looks like, but can't do one myself."

Liz nodded then looked at him with a small smile. "Thank you for the compliment."

"It's only the truth." Navarone replied earnestly.

Liz smiled slyly. "Well it's only the truth that I love you."

Navarone chuckled. "That's true." He leaned down and planted a soft, but nonetheless loving, kiss on her lips, parting to see a soft blush on her face.

"I love you too, Liz."

Liz smiled and returned to her painting and Navarone sat down in a chair, pulling out his phone and opening the news website. He frowned and made a small noise of concern.

Liz looked over and saw him staring worriedly at his phone screen. "What is it?"

Navarone looked up, not bothering to hide the concern he felt. "The Liberation attacked a Tournament this time, making off with several Pokemon. A Braixen, Gabite, Lucario, and Sylveon were stolen and their trainers placed into the ICU due to several gunshot wounds.

Liz placed her brush down and turned to face him fully. "You don't think they will come here, do you?"

"Of course not, they have no reason to." Navarone replied, but Liz could tell he was lying.

"Navarone, please don't lie to me. Why would they come here?" Liz asked, giving him a hard look. "If Melody, Harmony, or any of us might be in danger, I deserve to know!"

Navarone shut off his phone and slipped it into his pocket. Then he faced Liz and she was surprised to see he was _afraid_. She had seen him worried, concerned, and even downright pissed once, but never scared.

"I have access to a large amount of money, correct?" Navarone asked her.

Liz, not seeing where he was going with this, nodded. He continued as she did. "Well, where do you think they get money to pay for their weapons and equipment?"

Liz paused as his words registered in her mind, then stood up abruptly, nearly knocking her painting to the ground. " _What!"_ Navarone recoiled at her shout and movement.

"You're telling me your funding these horrible people?" Liz was incredulous and furious.

Navarone jumped up and gripped Liz's arms, pulling her into an embrace. "No! That's not what I meant at all!"

The room was silent as Liz slowly calmed down in her love's embrace, relieved he wasn't supporting the criminals. After a while, she spoke. "Then what did you mean?"

Navarone spoke with a steady voice, but Liz knew he was scared. "They need a way to pay for these things. It's entirely possible that they may attempt to force me to fund them."

"And how would they achieve that?" Liz asked, concerned for her love.

"By threatening you, beloved. You and Melody and Harmony and Verrin and everyone else." He was rambling now, something he had never done before. It showed her just how much he cared for them and loved them.

"We'll be fine, Navarone. You taught us to fight, and made sure even Melody and Harmony could defend themselves. The Liberation would never dare to attack here."

Navarone held Liz in his arms as he slowly calmed down. He relaxed in her embrace and eventually let go and stepped back. He smiled at Liz. "Thank you. You're right, as long as you all are here, nothing will happen. They wouldn't attack me at my own home."

The next couple hours passed quickly with sounds of pages flipping, brushes rubbing on paper, and excited shouting from outside in Verrin's case.

Eventually, Navarone heard Liz's stomach growl and checked the time. Seeing it was six in the afternoon, he suggested they go eat dinner, which was surely done by now. She smiled and agreed, starting to clean her brushes. She placed them all back into the pouch after cleaning then with soap and making sure the bristles were properly oriented.

As she stood up, Navarone closed his book and joined her. When they exited the room, he asked a question. "So where did you actually learn to paint and take care of supplies."

Liz smiled sadly and seemed to stare into the distance as they walked. "When I was still a 'wild' Pokemon, I lived in a small village of my evolutionary lines. One day, my father came back with an injured, unconscious human."

Liz smiled. "We were all worried he would hurt us, but being a Gallade, my father couldn't leave an injured person behind."

"Eventually, he woke up. He had to stay for two weeks because of his injuries. We learned he wasn't a Trainer, that he had no Pokemon. He was a writer who traveled for inspiration. He had been attacked and injured and then my dad found him."

"What happened after he healed?" Navarone asked during the following paused as they descended the staircase.

"He left. He thanked us all for our help and left. He came back several weeks later with several gifts. One of which was an Art instruction manual with an entire kit. He gave it all to me because I had helped him."

"What was his name?" Navarone asked.

"John Calligan." Liz said, smiling.

She glanced at Navarone to see him frowning. "Is that jealousy, love?" Liz asked as they stopped in the living room.

To her surprise, he shook his head and chuckled. "Nah, his name just seems _very_ familiar."

"Well, as I said, he's a writer so you may have heard of him." Liz explained.

Navarone nodded. "That could be it."

Navatone turned to Liz. "Now, you can go ahead and sit down, I'm going to find the little ones."

Liz nodded and kissed Navarone's cheek. "Needless to say, I'll wait for you all."

Navarone smiled and went out the back door and looked around. He saw all three Pokemon arrayed in a line near the second storage shed, looking at something around the side. Giving a thoughtful hum, he made his way over with long strides. As he neared, he could make out Melody and Harmony whispering while Verrin looked on in concern.

"Verrin, what are you three doing?" Navarone asked once he was close enough to be heard.

Verrin looked over at him and spoke in reply with a voice laced with concern. "Nav, there's a strange Pokemon on the ground. It looks unconscious and hurt."

Melody and Harmony nodded in agreement. He frowed with worry and confusion and when he reached them, he quickly rounded the side of the building. Collapsed on the ground seemingly from exhaustion as well as injury was a small bipedal fox-like Pokemon.

Sporting black fur from the waist down as well as tan and white fur from the waist up, the iconic stick in the Pokemon's tail told Navarone exactly _what_ it was, and the injuries told him _who_ it was.

With a bloodied chest from a large cut and one leg bending the wrong way, it was very clear that the being before him had gotten into a fight, and not the average Pokemon battle. No, this fire-type had gotten into a life-or-death battle and, judging from the steady yet slow rise and fall in the vulpine's chest, it had barely survived.

"Verrin, go get Liz and bring her here. Melody, tell Daron to call Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. There's an injured Pokemon needing help. Harmony, you'll help me put pressure on that nasty cut on it's chest."

"Right!" Verrin and Melody took off toward the house and Navarone crouched down and pulled off his shirt.

"What now, Dad?" Harmony asked, slightly scared and not sure what to do. "What happened to it?"

"Tear my shirt into strips and let's put pressure on the wound. Make sure no more blood is lost. We'll find out what happened when it wakes up."

As he and Harmony got to work, there was no doubt in his mind that he was looking at the Braixen that had been stolen by The Liberation. There was even less doubt that the vulpine had fought it's way out and escaped before collapsing in his yard.

What worried him the most was that there was no way the Pokemon could have made it far as it was. Wherever the criminal organization was taking those it kidnapped, it couldn't have been far from his home.

That terrified him.

XXX

 **And there's the chapter. Things are picking up and The Liberation may become more than a bit of a problem soon enough.**

 **Now, onto a concern. A while back, several users pestered me to not make this into a harem. Even after reassurance that I had no such plans, they continued to believe I would.**

 **This chapter both settles and recreates some people's 'harem worries.' By developing Melody and Harmony's relationship with Nav into a father/daughter one, which had been planned, I put that to rest.**

 **Unfortunately, I forsaw those same users getting rather worried at the introduction of a Braixen. After all, a Gardevoir, Lopunny, Lucario, and Braixen is any Pokephiliac's wet dream. So to be clear, this is _not_ a harem story. Navarone will be with Liz and _only_ Liz.**

 **Now, as for the future events. Heh, I have plans for poor Navarone. The future will be _very_ eventful.**


	13. Chapter 13

Navarone set the volatile vial onto the shelf inside it's protective casing. He had just placed another one around the house, being the last of nearly thirty. He smiled at it, knowing he would at least be able to defend against The Liberation's Pokemon, even if his own Pokemon companions weren't there.

Word had gotten around that The Liberation used almost solely ice-types. While Navarone never liked the thought of killing anyone, including Pokemon, he would do anything to save those he loved, shown by him shooting the Houndoom that had attacked him and Lilly years ago.

To help defend against ice Pokemon, Navarone had created a chemical combination that should even the playing field. They were essentially magma grenades.

Each vial was set into a impact-resistant plastic coating to prevent the vial from breaking prematurely. When removed, the container was essentially a two-chamber glass vial. The first chamber held three separate materials while the second held one more.

The first chamber held a finely mixed solution of rust and aluminum powder, also called 'thermite.' The third material was a secret solution Navarone referred to as the Primer. The second chamber held another material he called the Trigger. When the glass vial was thrown and shattered, the Primer and Trigger came into contact, causing a powerful exothermic reaction that ignited the thermite, which also reacted, creating molten iron, magma, that burned at 4,000F.

Even a fire type wouldn't survive the temperatures. They can resist nearly any flames, yet very, very few could survive literal magma.

On the topic of fire types, the Braixen was recovering well in the guest room of the second floor. Having been found only yesterday, she still hadn't woken. She was due to soon, though. Liz had been constantly using Recover on her. Unfortunately, Recover not being meant to be used on another being, it literally barely healed her cuts so far.

Navarone frowned as he remembered the discussion he had with Nurse Joy to prevent her from taking the vulpine to the Pokecenter in Viridian City.

XXX

"And why should I not take her to a professional Pokemon hospital instead of leaving her here being treated by an ability that shouldn't even work on her?" Nurse Joy asked rhetorically, outraged at the idea.

"Think about it, Joy. If you had brought the Braixen to the Center, she wouldn't have been safe. The Liberation has already shown interest in her and bringing her to a place they already attacked won't help!" Navarone said.

"I hate to say it, she's safer here." Navarone said, with Officer Jalie agreeing with him.

XXX

Nurse Joy had accepted his reasoning and treated the Braixen as best she could without the Center's equipment. She splinted the poor fox's leg and wrapped her chest in gauzes, during which she determined the Pokemon's gender, something Navarone didn't want to 'check.'

She was in the guest room right now with Liz, who was very slowly healing her. In order to make sure he could protect the Braixen, he had made a mixture to help them, which led him to his current situation.

Navarone looked on at the thermite grenade. Not exactly as powerful as those the military uses, but it's the strongest I can get while still being legal.

Then Navarone frowned. Ridiculous that someone can 'own' Pokemon capable of destroying cities, yet certain chemicals are illegal to own.

Navarone walked upstairs to the attic to clean up his chemical supplies while still mentally debating the topic with himself, which he so often does. Like, I can get not allowing high-grade thermite. Even low-grade can melt metal and kill fire types. But outlawing other, less reactive materials that can't explode or make a lethal gas is senseless.

He entered the pseudo-chemistry lab that once was his attic and began returning the supplies to their separate cabinets. As he did, his attention was drawn to a large, bright red cabinet covered in various hazard signs. Inside it was every chemical he owned capable of melting, burning, eating, reacting, exploding, or all of the above with the non-reactive floor he installed on the attic floor. Obviously, nothing is truly non-reactive so he did his research beforehand and took the proper precautions.

Liz has her painting, I have my explosives/acids/bases/flammables. Navarone thought with amusement.

After cleaning, he went down three floors and grabbed a plate of breakfast for his love. Then he ascended a floor and lightly knocked on the guest room's door. When he heard a muffled 'it's open' emit from inside, he pushed the door open and entered. Sitting in a chair with her hands glowing blue was a familiar figure; Liz.

She was slightly speeding the healing process of the fire type lying on the bed. It was the Braixen, and she had a splint on her leg and gauze bandages wrapping around her chest.

The fire vulpine was expected to awaken later that day, which they were anxious about due to the fact she may have important information regarding the Liberation.

Navarone approached Liz and placed a hand on her back and rubbed her back softly. She gave him a tired smile and continued her ministrations on the Braixen.

She redirected her attention back to him when he held the plate of pancakes out to her. She looked at them as her stomach growled, blatantly giving away her hunger, and frowned. "I can't eat. I need to help her, I'll eat afterwards."

Navarone shook his head and placed his hand on hers, stopping her Recover. "You need to eat. It won't help anyone if you knock yourself out by helping her. She'll be fine for the few minutes it'll take to eat. I admire your dedication, but your own health is important too."

Liz conceded with a nod and grabbed the plate from him and began to eat. As she did, he pulled a second chair next to her with the intent to keep her company. The Gardevoir was obviously famished as by the time he found a chair and relocated it, she had already finished eating.

He smiled at her and spoke. "You've been using Recover all day so you must be hungry. If you want, I'll go get another plate for you."

Liz blushed lightly as her stomach growled. "Please?" She asked quietly.

Navarone nodded and stood up and went back downstairs for another plate of pancakes. He refilled the plate, this time with twice as many, and returned to his love's side. She reached for the plate after he sat down next to her, only for him to pull the plate away. She looked at Navarone, confused, before he cut a piece of the pancake with the fork and held it up to her.

When she realized what he was doing, she smiled and blushed. She opened her mouth. "Ahh~"

Navarone placed the fork with the pancake in her mouth and she closed it. Liz blushed as she continued to feed her. Before long, there was one more bite left. He raised it to her and she leaned forward to eat it, only to stop when Navarone ate it himself. She pouted at him. "Hey!"

Navarone chuckled and swallowed the pancake piece. He leaned forward and kissed her. Liz leaned in and returned the favor. When they separated, the Gardevoir smiled at him. "You're forgiven."

They both chuckled and Liz returned to using Recover on the Braixen. Navarone wrapped an arm around Liz and she leaned into him. They sat in silence for some time before Navarone asked a question that had been on his mind. "Liz, when do you think she'll wake up?"

The Gardevoir frowned. "I'm not too sure. Her leg is still broken, but the gash on her chest is almost fully healed and all the other bruises and cuts are healed. She'll wake up in a day or two, probably."

Navarone sighed, then chuckled. "And Nurse Joy thought Recover wouldn't work. You've proved her wrong. You've done great, beloved."

Liz blushed and smiled. "T-thank you."

They were both silent with Liz concentrating on healing the Braixen and Navarone watching the gash slowly close. Normally, wounds healed too slow to actually watch it happen, so he found it amazing that his girlfriend could speed it up to that point. Navarone was slightly surprised when Liz spoke up, continuing what he said earlier. "It may be healing her, but only slowly."

Navarone shook his head. "'Slowly,' Liz? Look at that! I can actually watch it heal. No hospital can do that! You had to wear bandages for weeks when you were injured. At this rate, she won't need to wear them at all."

Liz was silent for a moment, then spoke softly. "You're right."

He chuckled. "Of course I am."

He leaned in and kissed the cheek. "In all seriousness, you're amazing. Don't ever doubt that."

Liz sighed softly and leaned deeper into him. "I love you, Nav."

"And Nav loves you." He said, smiling.

XXX

A day passed and Liz had crawled into Navarone's bed exhausted. She put her head on his chest and immediately fell asleep. When Navarone woke up the next morning, he didn't have the heart to wake her and let her sleep another two hours, after which she woke up on her own.

In other news, the Braixen was almost fully healed and due to wake up at any moment. On that note, Officer Jalie was at the Planctus Lapidem estate so she could get any information on The Liberation from the fire type. Liz, her, and Navarone were all sitting in the living room waiting for her to wake up. Liz and Navarone were sitting together, and Officer Jalie was on another couch.

Navarone had his face in his hands and Liz was sitting next to him, concerned. "Navarone, what is it?"

Officer Jalie was concerned as well, but she didn't say anything. Navarone sighed. "Its just something that has been bothering me for some time. You remember the Braixen's wounds when we found here, right?"

"Of course. How would we forget? But what's your point?" Officer Jalie asked.

"In her condition, she couldn't have made it far, right?" Navarone asked.

Both Liz and Jalie glanced at each other, not understanding where he was going with this. "Right."

"So that means wherever The Liberation took her couldn't be far from here. She made it from there to here as she is. The Liberation can't be far from here, and that terrifies me." Navarone explained.

That stunned both women since neither of them had considered that. Officer Jalie was the first to speak. "By Arceus, you're right. We need to get the military out here and have them sweep the woods!"

Navarone raised an eyebrow. "The military?"

Jalie sighed. "I know, they barely do anything. The only thing they're good for is the numbers. The Officers care about the people more than them, they just outnumber us."

"And to think, I almost joined them." Navarone mumbled, which Liz heard.

"You were in the military?" Liz nearly shouted.

He looked up. "Almost. I'll explain it later, okay?"

She hesitated, then nodded. Just then, Destiny came down from the second floor. "She's awake and incredibly scared."

All three stood up and moved to go upstairs. Liz led the way with Navarone behind her and Jalie in the back. Destiny, however, didn't follow. When they entered, all of them saw the Braixen against the wall, off her broken leg, staring at them terrified. "S-stay away! I-I'll b-burn you!"

She puffed out a little smoke, but no fire. That only made her more terrified. Then, her eyes locked onto Navarone's revolver and she seemed to freeze in horror. Navarone spoke up. "Let's get out. All three of us plus my gun are freaking her out."

They exited the room into the hallway. Officer Jalie was the first to speak. "Who should be the one to go in?"

Liz spoke instantly. "Navarone."

The man looked at her, shocked. "Why me? I won't be able to calm her!"

Liz shook her head. "You're wrong. You can. You did it to Grace, you did it for me. You did it to Harmony and Melody. You can do it for her."

Officer Jalie spoke up. "She's right. I read your file, and she's right. You have the best chance. Liz has never done this and I'm not experienced."

Navarone sighed and his shoulders slumped. "Alright. Here, take my gun. I don't want to scare her more."

He took off his gun holster and handed it Liz, who cradled it warily. "Be careful, Nav."

He kissed Liz quickly. "I will, beloved."

Navarone, freed of his gun, returned into the room alone. He opened the door and entered, aware of the Braixen's eyes on him. He closed the door behind him and faced the vulpine, sitting down on a chair across the room from her. He looked at her, seeing her glance at his hip. She seemed to relax just a little when she noticed he had no gun.

"Hello, Braixen." Navarone said gently.

"D-don't hurt m-me, p-please." She spoke. Now that everything was calmer, her voice sounded young, about the same age as Verrin and the others.

"Don't worry, little one. I don't plan to hurt you in any way. In fact, me and my friends had helped you."

Her eyes widened. "W-what? How can you understand me? And how did you h-help me?"

Navarone pointed at his ears. "I have translators. As for helping you, what is the last thing you remember?"

"S-seeing a l-light through the woods. I remember my leg was b-broken. I had a c-cut on my chest. I p-passed out and woke up here." She said, stuttering slightly, likely from fear and nervousness.

"Look at yourself." He said.

She did so, looking down. She noticed her wounds had been mostly healed. Her head snapped back to him, slightly concerning him for her neck. "H-how?"

"My girlfriend, Liz, is a Gardevoir. She healed you over the last day."

The Braixen was silent for a moment, but when she spoke, she sounded shocked. "Y-you're dating a G-Gardevoir?"

Navarone smiled and nodded. "Yes, and quite happily, too. Do you want to meet her?"

The Braixen nodded and he went to the door, opening it and speaking quietly. "Liz, she wants to meet you. I don't recommend talking to her about what happened, she seems really shaken up."

Liz nodded and placed the gun down while Officer Jalie spoke. "In that case, I'll leave. Whenever you think she's ready, ask her what she knows. After that, contact me and I'll get the military in on it."

She left and both Navarone and Liz entered the room again. Navarone took his place in the chair again and Liz placed one next to him. Navarone was the first to speak. "Braixen, this is Liz. She's the one who healed you."

The Braixen looked at her for a moment. "T-thank you.'

Liz smiled gently. "You're very welcome."

The Braixen spoke up, surprising them both with her question. "C-can I s-speak to Liz alone?"

Navarone looked over to Liz questioningly and she smiled, then nodded. He stood up and kissed her cheek lightly, then left the room. Both females were silent until the soft click of the door was heard. The Braixen waited a moment longer, then spoke. "Are you r-really okay with d-dating him? He's not f-forcing you, is he?"

Liz felt her eyes widen before she answered. "Of course I'm okay with it. In fact, I'm very happy about it. For your other question, he's never forced me to do anything since I lived here."

"Y-you didn't always l-live here?"

Liz was quiet for a moment as she decided how much to tell her, before she decided for the truth. "No. Before we met Navarone, a man named Apollo 'owned' me, Harmony, and Melody, who are two children. Every day, he would hurt us and barely give us food. It got to the point I honestly believed I would die by him. Then he was caught and arrested."

"T-then what?" She asked.

"We were brought to the Pokecenter in Viridian City, where we stayed while we healed. Eventually, we were well enough that they planned to dismiss us, but one of the nurses brought up a good point. There were a lot of dark types in the woods, and the only adult being psychic made it a bad idea for us to be let go. Instead, Professor Oak called Navarone, asking him to watch over us."

"From the moment he arrived, I didn't trust him. It didn't matter that the only humans I trusted vouched for him. All that mattered was that he was a human. Before I even left, I asked Verrin, a Vulpix, what Navarone was like. When I heard nothing but good, I decided to give him a chance. I'm glad I did because I fell in love with him." Liz finished with a smile.

"I k-know who A-Apollo is." The Braixen said out of the blue.

"You do?" She asked.

"I s-saw h-him a l-lot w-with the o-others." The Braixen said, incredibly nervous.

"Its okay, Braixen. You can tell us later, after you've recovered and relaxed. Now, we saved you some breakfast since we were sure you'd wake up today. Are you hungry?" Liz asked.

The Braixen blushed and Liz giggled as her stomach rumbled in answer. "Come on, Braixen. Let's get you something to eat."

Liz stood up and headed the Braixen. Then she reached down and gently picked her up, making sure not to upset her leg, which had healed from a complete break to a hairline fracture. As she left the room and began walking toward the kitchen, she noticed Navarone wasn't nearby. The Braixen spoke up. "M-my name, its not B-Braixen."

Liz smiled at her. "I know, but I didn't know your name and it was more important to let you know we wouldn't harm you. In any case, what is your name?"

"K-Kayren." She said.

"Its nice to meet you, Kayren."

"Its n-nice to meet you, too, L-Liz."


	14. Chapter 14

Liz and Kayren exited the room and descended to the first floor. Liz carried the Braixen to the kitchen and sat her down. The Gardevoir then used Psychic to levitate a plate over. Piled on it was a full breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast, and syrup. Liz handed the Braixen a fork and she began to eat. When she began, Liz spoke. "I'm going to go find Navarone. Are you okay with meeting him?"

Kayren hesitated, then nodded. "If you t-think he can be trusted, then y-yes."

Liz smiled. "I know he can. I trust him completely."

She stood up and left the room and searched for him. When she found him, he was outside watching Verrin, Melody, and Harmony swim in the pool. In a lounge chair, Destiny was watching over them. In the pool as well was Alyss. She approached her boyfriend. "Nav, Kayren is ready to meet you."

He turned to her. "Kayren? Oh, the Braixen. That's her name?"

Liz nodded. "Mmhm. She's in the kitchen eating the meal we saved her. Also, I told her she didn't have to tell us anything right now. She had known Apollo but sounded incredibly scared when she spoke about him. I think its best we let her get used to us first."

Navarone nodded. "I'll tell Officer Jalie later. I really hope she recovers from this. No one deserves what happened to her."

Liz leaned into him. "I know. I hope we find where The Liberation is so they can be arrested."

Navarone sighed. "I know. I'm just scared they may be really nearby. I'm glad I made the thermite now."

They were silent for a moment before Navarone shifted. "Come on, let's go inside. Its about time I meet the Braixen with less fear."

Both went inside, leaving the three younger Pokémon to continue playing in the pool. Liz led the way into the kitchen where Kayren had just finished eating. When the Braixen saw the human, she tried to smile at him but it came out halfheartedly. Liz sat down not far from her, yet Navarone decided to sit a bit away for her comfort. He flashed a quick smile to Liz when she looked at him curiously.

"Hello, Kayren." Navarone said to the Braixen.

"Hi." She said shyly.

"I understand if you may be afraid of me, but I promise I'll never do anything to hurt you." He said gently and Liz nodded.

"B-but what's g-going to h-happen to m-me?" Kayren asked.

Navarone sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Well, for now, you'll have to stay here. With your injured leg, it isn't safe for you to move, especially after The Liberation showed an interest in you. Whenever you're comfortable enough, we'll need to discuss what you know about them. Anything could help the military take them down. After you've healed, that's up to you. You could go, or stay."

The Braixen nodded. "I don't t-think I can t-talk about it."

He gave a comforting smile. "Don't sorry, its fine. Take as much time as you need."

Even though Navarone said it, all three knew it wasn't really true. The faster Kayren told them what she knew, the faster they could find The Liberation and rescue those that had been kidnapped. Even with this, neither Liz nor Navarone wanted to pressure Kayren after what she had been through.

XXX

Kayren was inside resting in the guest room while Navarone and Liz were outside, near the pool. Destiny and Alyss had gone home and the little ones were still playing in the pool. The two partners were sitting side by side, Liz leaning on Navarone.

"Nav?" Liz spoke up.

"Hmm?"

"What's the story between you and Kanto's military? Did you really join?" The Gardevoir asked.

"I tried to join, at least. If things had gone differently, I wouldn't have met you, and I might still be there. The story isn't really anything special, though." Navarone said dismissively

"I still would like to hear it, if its okay with you."

"Of course it is, beloved. I have nothing to hide." He said with a chuckled.

"After I recovered from my injuries at the paws of the Houndoom, I wandered the regions with a while. Through my travels, I heard tales of slavers and the like. When I returned to Kanto, I learned there was a number here. They weren't as pervasive as other regions, but they were here. I wanted to do something about it. So, I enlisted."

"I spent three months in training, preparing for the missions I knew I'd risk my life on. I was two days before graduation when we got the message." He ran a hand through his hair, still irritated.

"What message?" Liz asked.

"That seventy-five percent of all trainees were effectively discharged from the military." Navarone said.

"What? Why?" The Gardevoir was, understandably, confused.

"Well, Kanto was preparing soldiers for a large-scale strike against the slavers. Not a group or two, but all of them. What happened was a group of their leaders approached the military leaders and bribed them. The slavers would give the generals fifteen percent of profits in return for military cuts." Navarone stated.

"But I haven't heard of any slavers?"

"Because it was discovered, the generals arrested, and the slavers arrested. However, it was too late. I had already been discharged. After that, I realized the military's incompetence. Even now, they take a year to do what the officers would in a month. I went back to my travels. I'm still thankful for my training and, after everything that's happened, I'm kinda glad I was discharged."

"Why?" Liz asked.

"Simple. I might have never met you, Liz. I could be dead, or fighting a war somewhere. Instead, I'm living happily with you, Verrin, Melody, and Harmony. I think it was for the best I didn't graduate."

Liz smiled. She leaned in and kissed him gently. "Maybe it was for the best, just like it was for the best I decided to give you a chance when we first met."

Navarone smiled and placed an arm around the Gardevoir, gently rubbing her shoulder. "Imagine how different things would be if you had told Professor Oak, 'No.'"

Liz sighed. "I never would have fallen for you, Melody and Harmony wouldn't have met Verrin, and we may have even been kidnapped by The Liberation when they attacked the Pokecenter in Viridian."

Navarone chuckled. "The butterfly effect."

"What?"

He looked embarrassed for a moment. "Its nothing. Just a science fiction thing."

Liz placed her right arm over Navarone's chest, enjoying their closeness and the feeling of him holding her. "Tell me about it."

Navarone turned and looked at her, surprised. "You're actually interested?"

She smiled and nodded. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He shrugged lightly, trying not to jostle her. "I didn't take you for someone interested in science fiction."

"I liked Star Wars." She said simply.

"Touché." He replied.

"So what's the butterfly effect?" Liz asked again.

"Well, it refers to time travel. See, scientists believe that if time travel actually became real, the butterfly effect would be a real problem. It essentially states that if you went back in time and stepped on a butterfly, when you went back into the present, it would be drastically changed."

"How?" She asked, confused.

"Well, its said that killing the butterfly would set off a series of events different that what would have happened if the butterfly lived. The farther into the past you went, the more drastically the present would have changed."

"The farther back you went, the more time would have passed for the present to change." Liz clarified.

"Right. You caught on quick."

"It isn't that complicated." Liz said dismissively.

"You're right, but I'm not the best at teaching. I probably could have explained that better."

Liz kissed him sweetly. "What matters is that it worked."

Navarone chuckled and set his head on hers. "I love you so much, Liz."

"And I you just as much, Nav." Liz said.

"Hey! You're starting to talk like I do sometimes." Navarone interjected with a small smile.

"Well, you do have a particularly eloquent way of speaking." Liz said, intentionally speaking in Navarone's formal way.

"You know it and you love it." He said before he quickly leaned forward and kissed her.

She giggled. "I do."

They were silent for a time before the back door to the house opened. Liz and Navarone looked back to see Kayren limping out the door toward them. They got up and when they neared her, Liz picked her up. "Kayren, what are you doing out here on your leg?"

"I need to speak with you both." She spoke with a presence of confidence and urgency that she had lacked since she woke up.

They shared a glance before Navarone spoke. "Bring her to the kitchen. I'll start the little ones on Episode Three. Then we'll talk."

Liz nodded and they separated, she heading inside, he heading poolside.

XXX

"Okay, Kayren, what is it you need to talk to us about?" Navarone asked.

"The L-Liberation." She said, having lost a portion of her earlier confidence.

"I thought you weren't ready?" Liz questioned.

"The l-longer I take, the m-more who get hurt." She said.

"Okay. So, what do you know?" Navarone asked gently.

"I k-know a lot, actually." Kayren said.

"How?" Liz asked.

"The leader, h-he likes Pokémon, especially B-Braixen. He wanted me to be his m-mate. He would spend h-hours telling me everything, trying to get me to j-join him." Kayren said.

"If he cared, how'd you get hurt?"

"I b-burned him. In return, he b-beat me and had me thrown in the woods. Then I found my way here." She said.

"I'm glad you made it here, then, and escaped. Even if you got hurt." Liz said.

Kayren smiled at her. "I am too. Being hurt is better than staying there."

Navarone cleared his throat and both looked at him. "Let's start with the leader and higher ranks, okay?"

Kayren nodded. "I only k-know two high ranks; the leader, and the head of research. Neither of them use their r-real names, but codenames. S-Savior is the leader, while C-Creator is head of research."

"How many soldiers do you think they have?" Navarone asked.

"I don't know. I know t-they have two c-compounds. There's the one I was at, and where Savior lives." Kayren said.

"If he doesn't live at the nearby one, why were you and him there?" Liz asked.

"He took me with h-him, and the nearby one is the research one. Its where Creator l-lives and works."

"Where is the nearby one, exactly?" Liz asked, worried for her loved ones.

"An hour or t-two north." She said.

Navarone nodded, thinking about it. He was worried that they would attack his house and family, or his workers and their families. "Do you know what their intentions are?"

The Braixen shook her head. "I'm not sure. I know they believe humans and Pokémon should be the same species, but nothing other then that."

"What about the others that were kidnapped? Are they still alive? Where are they held?" Navarone asked.

"They're alive still, but are kept in the main compound with Savior." Kayren said.

"Speaking of the main compound, where is it?" Liz asked.

"I-I'm not sure. I was kept in a covered cage in the b-back of a truck. I'm sorry." She said.

"That's okay, Kayren. You've told us a lot. Liz, I'll contact Officer Jalie with this information which she'll forward to the military."

Navarone stood up and exited the room, leaving Liz and Kayren behind. He walked down the hall and went through the front door. When he stepped into the sunlight, he pulled out his phone and called Officer Jalie's personal work-number. The phone ringed once on the other end before being picked up. "Officer Jalie, Viridian City Police Department."

"Officer Jalie, it's Navarone. I have information on The Liberation from Kayren." He said.

"That was quick. I expected it to take longer."

"She came to us, we didn't convince her. Anyway, when can we meet?"

"I'll have to set up a meeting with a couple Officers and a General or two, but it shouldn't be more than a couple days." Came the reply.

"Good, see you then. Contact me through this number when the date's set." Navarone said, hanging up.

He turned around to see Liz behind him. He glanced around for a moment, not seeing what he was looking for. "Kayren?"

"Out back, with the others. The movie ended earlier and they went out back." The Gardevoir said. He could hear the tension in her voice.

Navarone waved her to follow and went inside. She followed him up two flights of stairs and down a hall before entering his room. He sat on the bed and she sat next to him. They both sat contemplating for a moment in silence before Navarone reached over and pulled her into his embrace. They, still, were silent before Liz's shaky voice broke it. "Nav, I'm scared."

He sighed. "I am too, love."

The man heard his closest friend, lover, and confidant whimper in his arms, nearly breaking his heart. "I'm just so terrified that something will to you, or the others. I don't think I'll be able to love again if something happens to you, Nav."

The man remembered something, triggered by his lover's words. A little work he had heard long ago, something that stuck with him for years on end. Even now, years later, he remembered it word for word. He recited it now.

"No longer mourn for me when I am dead

Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell

Give warning to the world that I am fled

From this wild world, with vilest worms to dwell."

"Nay, if you hear these words, remember not

The man that spoke it; for I love you so

That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot

If thinking on me then should make you woe."

"O, if, I say, you think upon these words

When I, perhaps, compounded am with clay,

Do not so much as my poor name rehearse,

But let your love even with my life decay,"

"Lest the wise world should look into your moan

And mock you with me after I am gone."

Navarone finished, slightly proud he had remembered it just as Lilly had told him all those years ago. Liz shifted in his arms to look up at him, eyes bright. "T-That was beautiful, Nav. Where did you hear that?"

He smiled, a little forlornly. "Lilly, years ago. We had just confessed and were still traveling. Sometimes, she'd have to fight off Pokémon, and I was terrified she'd be hurt just a little too much. I told her, and that was her reply. At first, I didn't understand it. Once I did, I felt much better, knowing how much she'd care for me and now, how much I do for you." Navarone said.

She smiled and leaned into his chest. She understood what he had said to her. Do not mourn for him when he is gone. He'd rather be forgotten than to cause her pain. She had seen his longing smile when he said Lilly's name. She was okay with it, though.

Liz knew that even though she was the same species, and that Lilly had come first, she would never be 'the next best thing' or 'a suitable replacement.' She was Liz, his closest friend, lover, and confidant.

XXX

They stayed in that same position, basking in each other's company for what seemed like hours before Liz asked him a question. "Nav, can you say another one?"

"Of course, beloved." He replied, already thinking about which to do. Finally, he settled on, choosing it to be a little playful and a little loving. He gently reached down and placed a hand on her chin, turning her to look into her eyes and her, his.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date."

"Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature' s changing course untrimmed."

"But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou lowest,

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade

When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st."

"So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

Liz said nothing, only pushing Navarone onto his back and lying on top of him. She pressed her lips against his firmly, closing her eyes as he did the same. It was nothing like their usual chaste of loving kiss. Instead, it was powerful and passionate, far stronger than any they've shared before. Liz opened her mouth and ran her tongue across Nav's lips. He replied in kind and their kiss deepened further.

She moaned as he ran his hand down her back.

XXX

They were in a familiar position, Navarone on his back with Liz's head on his chest and arm over his stomach. His arm was around her back pressing her against him. Her chest spike was positioned over his stomach, not pressing into him. They had simply lied in bed and kissed for at least an hour.

Part of them both wanted to go further, to consummate their love. Both of them knew that now wasn't the time, and they both wanted to wait. Navarone arm's rubbed lovingly along her back, his breath tickling the three sensory nodes on her head.

Liz sighed happily. Definitely not second best.

XXX

First, a vote. An event is coming up and I need to decided between two plans. They are simply a matter of timing, and are almost identical. It is simply semantics. So, the question is;

During, or after?

One of those two. I'm not sure how many votes I'll get, so I'll probably make a decision December 5th or something similar. Things are picking up soon. Get ready. Several have made guesses as to what will happen. None are close.

Second, Nav and Liz's relationship is obviously progressing. If I ever have them fully consummate their relationship (read: sex), would you like it as a full scene or skipped? If it is a scene, I will not be putting a warning. They ruin the flow of the chapter. There is, of course, a reason this story is rated as it is, even if the reason hasn't shown yet.

Last, I do not own the poems. They are Sonnets, written by William Shakespeare five hundred years ago. The first is Sonnet 71 and the second is Sonnet 18. Of course, with it being half a millennium old, they are considered a public domain.


	15. Chapter 15

Three days passed and it left Navarone and Liz seated in a secure conference room with General Raymond, General Typhus, Officer Jalie, and the iconic Officer Jenny. They were seated at a large, round table. Navarone and Liz, of course, were seated next to each other, the Gardevoir on his right. To Navarone's left sat Jalie, then Jenny, then Raymond, and ending with Typhus, bringing the group, understandably, full circle. The two lovers had arrived twenty minutes ago and waited for each member to arrive. Now that he had- he, in this case, being General Typhus, they began.

General Raymond was first. He leaned forward and brought his hands together, then spoke. "Okay, Mr. Navarone, what do you have for us?"

Navarone waved a hand dismissively. "Dispense with the formalities. I've received information on The Liberation from a first-hand witness and victim. No information has been verified but I have no reason to doubt it."

Typhus glanced at his partner. "And this source? How is it connected to The Liberation?"

"One of the Pokémon captured in the Viridian City raid some time ago. She escaped and made her way through chance to my home, where she was treated and revealed this to us." Navarone replied.

Raymond scoffed while Jenny and Jalie shared a glance. "Let's start with statistics. Army size, compounds, funds, and the like."

Navarone raised an eyebrow. "You expect a prisoner to have been proxy to that information?"

The General thought for a moment, then relented with a nod. "Point taken. Continue."

Navarone shared an exasperated glance with Liz and Jalie, both of whom returned it. "Number of active combatants as well as funding are unknown. However, at least two facilities are known. The location of one of which is known as well."

"And that is?" Typhus added.

"Several hours north of my estate on foot. Our source describes it as the research and development facility of the operation. The second compound is located within Kanto, but the specific location is unknown."

"Naturally." Raymond mumbled under his breath, but was heard.

They nodded and Jalie asked the next question. "Key figures?"

"Two at least. Both use pseudonyms. The leader of The Liberation is referred to as 'Savior' and lives in the second compound. The head of RD is known as 'Creator' and lives and works in the known compound. Physical descriptions are unknown."

General Raymond frowned. "You expect us to launch an assault against a compound when we know very little about it?"

Navarone leaned forward, narrowing his eyes, and spoke firmly. "Sir, with all due respect, the information provided is more than the officers and military combined have found since the attacks and raids started. We know a base's location. Now, I may have been discharged by the previous Generals to appease slavers, but even I know that it you should send a recon team to find out the information you want. Then, plan accordingly to take the facility."

"And what makes you assume we would want to take the facility?" Raymond asked.

"Its a research facility. They may have equipment or breakthroughs that can be worth acquiring."

Raymond was silent for a time before nodding. "I'll send a recon team to the compound."

He stood up and left the room without a word. Not long after him were both officers, each of which gave a quick smile to Liz and Navarone. Finally, it was just General Typhus in the room. He approached Navarone and spoke. "I'm sorry for my partner. He's pretty stubborn and doesn't realize when he has good info."

"Its CO's like that who make me glad I never truly joined the army." Navarone replied.

"I'll make sure he uses this information and launches an assault. I've been a General a year longer so I technically outrank him." Typhus replied.

Then, he shifted. "You know, you passed Basic with high marks. We could use a man like you, if you'd reconsider."

Navarone shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. He was acutely aware of the look of worry he had received from Liz. "I'm afraid not."

He wrapped an arm around Liz. "I have my own to protect. It may be selfish but I'm not willing to risk my life."

The General smiled. "A philosophy I can respect. Have a nice day, Navarone."

Navarone nodded respectfully and Typhus left. Liz sighed and Navarone turned to her. "I can't believe they wanted you to join them. After everything they did to you!"

Navarone chuckled. "'Everything they did?' Liz, they only discharged me. Even then, the Generals who had discharged me aren't in power anymore. Raymond and Typhus had been promoted a little after the others were arrested."

Navarone nodded toward the door and they left, heading back home. However, something didn't feel right. Liz had been hiding something but it hadn't felt like the time to ask.

XXX

Navarone and Liz arrived home slightly after noon where they were greeted to the little ones playing in the backyard. Destiny was watching over them from a chair near the pool. When the two partners exited the backyard, they were swarmed by three familiar and one less-so hanging back.

"Dad! Mom! You're home!" Melody shouted, the Buneary leaping into Navarone's arms. Harmony and Verrin both ran up, grinning up at Liz him.

Navarone laughed as he held Melody up. "Good to see you too, Melody. Have you had fun?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! We've been playing outside all day! Destiny was playing with us earlier but, well, we kinda tired her out."

Navarone laughed, knowing full well how tiring she, Harmony, and Melody could be. He set Melody down after giving her a quick kiss on her forehead and Kayren walked up. "Navarone, can I talk to you and Liz alone?"

He and Liz shared a quick glance. "Of course."

Before the man could ask for privacy, Verrin spoke. "Melody, you're it!"

The vulpine ran off, chased closely by Melody. Heading in another direction, Harmony ran. Navarone chuckled, knowing what Verrin did. "What did you want to talk about?"

"What's going to h-happen now?" The Braixen asked.

Liz answered her before Navarone could. "The military is going to scout out the compound, then assault it. They wanted Navarone to join them, but he declined."

When she finished, she gave a glancing look to him. Navarone knew she had been worried that he would accept."A-And me?"

Navarone smiled reassuringly. "Well, that's your choice. You can stay here with us, or you can go on your own. I do, however, recommend staying here until the nearby compound has been dealt with and you've had your leg checked up on."

The Braixen was silent for a moment. "I'll decide after t-that's done with. I don't want to risk being c-captured again."

Navarone smiled and nodded. "That's perfectly fine."

Kayren wandered off and sat in a chair away from Destiny to think. Navarone turned to Liz only to be grabbed by her and pulled inside. He was, naturally, shocked and intended to ask her what she was doing. Before he could, however, he caught a glimpse of her face and any words died in his throat at her tears.

She led him up two stories and into their room before she pulled him onto the bed. He sat down a little forcefully and was shocked again as Liz threw herself into his arms. She didn't speak, only crying into his shoulder, her sobs tearing at his heart. He said nothing, only embracing her as he tried his best to comfort her.

Navarone couldn't tell how long he held her silently. All he knew was the fact that his heart's sobs were dying off, that her tears were slowing. He tightened his embrace, letting Liz know that he was there for her, as always. He moved one hand to her upper back, just above her gem and below her neck, and gently rubbed.

Eventually, she pulled her face out of the crook of his neck and faced him, her eyes red and cheeks tear-stained. He stayed silent, only continuing to hold her and giving a comforting smoke. They stared at each either for a moment before she spoke up, her voice shaky.

"I-I was so s-scared that you would j-join them. T-That I would l-lose you, p-permanently. It t-terrified me. I love you, Nav. I w-wouldn't be able to handle it if you d-died. Promise me. P-promise me you won't leave me."

"I promise, Liz. I won't leave you. I won't join the army, either. The only reason I was interested in it was because I had no reason not to risk my life for others. Now I do. The reason is you, Melody, Harmony, Verrin, Kayren, and you." Navarone said, feeling as he wouldn't be able to keep his promise.

His words brought a small smile to the Gardevoir's face. "You said 'you' twice."

He kissed her, a quick, loving kiss that widened her smile. "That's just how important you are. You're my heart and soul."

Liz's smiled widened more and her earlier fear seemed to have evaporated. "And you're mine."

Navarone kissed her again, this time deeper and more passionate, showing the endless depth of his love for her. She returned it eagerly, running her hands through his hair. He pushed her over, lying on top of her as they both opened their mouths, a small moan being emitted from Liz as his hands ran over her back and closer to her gem-

A single gunshot shattered the moment.

Navarone and Liz jumped away from each other, both shocked and confused. They stared for a moment before Navarone was out the door. "The kids!"

Liz beat him, teleporting outside moments before Navarone darted out the back door, clothing and hair rumpled. He took in the scene instantly, sighing in relief when he noticed it wasn't what he feared. The four Pokémon were cowering near the changing rooms with Destiny mere feet away, looking toward the woods.

Navarone and Liz ran over as gunfire broke out in the forest, sounding distant, a fact he hadn't noticed inside. "Destiny, head home and lock the doors. Grab your gun and don't leave until I or one of the others comes."

She nodded, running down the road to the other house where he already noticed the windows being drawn. He turned back and addressed all the Pokémon. "Get inside and go to your rooms. Stay hidden until I or Liz get you."

They nodded and ran inside, disappearing up the stairs. Navarone grabbed Liz and dragged her inside, the exact opposite of what happened earlier. He dragged her upstairs to their room, hearing the kid's room lock. When they entered, Navarone grabbed his revolver and belted it on. As he did so, Liz closed the curtains and blocked the light. Both heading back downstairs, locking all the doors and windows before returning to their bedroom.

"Navarone, what's happening?" Liz asked. He was silent for a long moment as he thought, then replied.

"It sounds like a firefight at the compound." He said.

"I thought they were only scouting it." Liz said, confused.

"Either they found something that made then fast forward or they were discovered and the military launched an attack to save the scouts. Either way, we need to stay here until the fight tapers off."

XXX

Navarone closed his phone and placed it back into his pocket. He looked to his right, seeing Liz who was sending him a questioning look. "They're fine. They're all in their houses with the doors and windows locked."

She nodded. Navarone had just called each of his workers and made sure that they and each of their family were safe in their homes. Fortunately, Destiny had made her way back to her home as well, safe from the gunfire in the distance. Her attention was brought back to the TV that was tuned to the local news. It was covering the firefight, mentioning that it was between the military and The Liberation and that everyone was encouraged to stay inside.

She glanced nervously at the front door, then at Navarone's fingers that were drumming on the handle of his revolver. Her partner had suggested that they move down to the living room so that if anyone forced their way in, they would be in between the intruders and the others. It made her respect him even more since he was willing to put himself at risk to protect what they saw as their kids.

Echoing through the woods, several explosions rattled the windows and shook the house. Liz jumped slightly and scooted closer to Navarone who had reflexively gripped the gun and nearly brought it up. He let go and sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Its times like this that make me want to smoke a cigarette."

Liz looked at him in confusion, not knowing what they were. "Why don't you?"

He flashed her a quick half-smile. "Don't tempt me, I actually do have a pack. However, I shouldn't because they are really unhealthy and not worth it, even if they do calm nerves. They're also addictive."

"How do you know that?" She asked.

"Its something you pick up when roughly forty percent of the population smokes. It doesn't help that I used to as well. I tried to quit a while back, which didn't work. I eventually went cold turkey, which sucked but worked."

"Cold turkey?" Liz said, managing to sound both amused and confused.

"It means that instead of slowly smoking less and less until I stopped, I just stopped all at once. Its irritating and stressful, plus hard." Navarone explained. Liz nodded and they fell silent again before the gunfire picked up, making them both tense.

"Liz, can you go check on the little ones? I'm sure they are terrified. Better yet, stay with them. I'll make sure no one gets in." Navarone suggested.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, Liz." He said.

The Gardevoir nodded and stood up, then went upstairs. Navarone heard her knock on the door and ask to be let in. He heard it open, then close and relock. Navarone sighed. He stood up, went to his shelf, grabbed a cigarette pack and lighter, then lit one. He sat down and inhaled, then exhaled, holding back a cough. He mumbled. "I'm gonna regret this."

While Navarone was downstairs, indulging his guilty pleasure, Liz was upstairs with the little ones. All the while, the constant roar of gunfire was in the distance, an ever-present reminder of the lives being lost. Liz, when she entered the bedroom, was greeted to the sight of two Pokemon shivering and two others trying to comfort them.

Liz approached the bed where the Buneary and Riolu were and sat down in between them. She pulled them both over to her and embraced them. When she did, Verrin hopped up and joined them, his body heat serving to calm the scared Pokémon. When Kayren hesitated, Liz smiled at her and gestured for her to join them. She did, lying against Verrin.

The five sat together, Liz in the center with Melody and Harmony on each side with Verrin and Kayren sprawled on her stretched legs. Soon enough, the two had stopped their shivering before pulling back and looking at Liz. Melody was the one who spoke while Harmony nodded. "Thanks, Mom."

The group was silent for a time before Kayren noticed something. "Where's Navarone?"

Liz smiled. "Downstairs watching the front door. He asked me to check on you all and stay up here with you."

Three heads nodded, but one didn't. Instead, Verrin asked a question. "Can we go join him?"

Liz shook her head. "In case anyone does come in, we should stay in here. If Navarone needs help, I can teleport to him. You four would need to stay in here."

Silence reigned again, or as well it could with the fight, until Liz began to sing gently. The melody had no words, only vocals, but it was soothing and just loud enough to drown the gunfire. Her voice rose and lowered in volume, heard even by Navarone a floor below, and the four children began to feel tired. Soon, they were asleep and she continued to sing.

XXX

Navarone had finished his cigarette nearly thirty minutes ago but he could still hear Liz singing. He had noticed that the firefight ended a few minutes ago but he doubted Liz noticed.

Navarone sat with his gun loaded and in his head. While the battle ended, he didn't know who won. The next person to knock on his door could be The Liberation or the military. He decided to wait and it didn't take long.

Ten minutes later, a polite knocking was heard from his door. He stood up and approached it, his gun in his hand. He glanced through the glass and saw a familiar face outside. He sighed and lowered the gun, then opened the door fully. When it swung open, General Typhus stood outside. Navarone stepped back and the General entered. Navarone placed his gun back in the holster.

"Hello, Navarone. I see you were prepared."

"Quite." He replied.

Typhus smiled. "Well, the compound is ours and I have you to thank for convincing us to capture it."

Navarone was intrigued and so voiced it. "What did you find?"

"The Liberation is a religious fanatic cult. We're lucky we found them when we did." He said vaguely.

"Religious? Arcean, Helixian, what?" Navarone asked.

"New. They believe that when we die, we enter a new world. They intent to give humans the power of Pokémon and use that to wipe out all life."

"Shit." Navarone swore, something rare. "Success rate?"

Typhus laughed. "Zero. They haven't even begun figuring it out. Granted, neither have we, but I'm fine with that."

Navarone smiled lightly as well. "Agreed."

"Anyway, I just came to tell you its safe now. Will you pass the word to your workers?"

Navarone nodded and Typhus left soon after. He signed and turned back and headed up the stairs to tell the news to his lover and the little ones.

XXX

That's the next chapter. Since its December 7th (At the time of writing this), I've taken the votes and its decided. 'During' has been chosen with a whopping 0 votes for 'after.'

The Liberation compound has been destroyed and research ground to a halt. They found out what the group wanted, and everything is okay. So why does Navarone feel like he can't keep his promise?

Lastly, tell me how you feel about the last part. I rewrote it four times but it just doesn't feel right to me. Eventually, I decided it was enough.


End file.
